Will The FCC Investigate IDOL Scandal?

(From MSNBC "The Scoop" -- By Jeannette Walls)

Will the FCC look into the AMERICAN IDOL scandal?

COREY CLARK -- the IDOL contestant who was booted off the FOX show and now claims to have had an affair with judge PAULA ABDUL -- has been telling people that he would cooperate with an investigation by the FEDERAL COMMUNICATIONS COMMISSION (FCC). Some people have been comparing the IDOL happenings to the quiz show scandal of the 1950s, which prompted a massive crackdown by the FCC.

"Clark has told me that he will not participate with the internal FOX investigation, but that he would co-operate with an FCC investigation," entertainment reporter TOM O'NEILL, who writes for IN TOUCH MAGAZINE, told MSNBC's THE SCOOP.

A source familiar with FCC policy told THE SCOOP that the agency will likely ignore the flap, explaining that the group is prone to "consider AMERICAN IDOL to be entertainment, like WORLD WIDE WRESTLING (WWF), rather than a actual competition" such as a legitimate game show. Nevertheless, O'Neill tells THE SCOOP that he has heard that the agency has been snooping around the show because of complaints over the Abdul incident, as well as other episodes that have sparked fan outrage.

"Corey Clark told me that Paula Abdul promised to help him while she was still voting on the outcome," O'Neill told THE SCOOP. "Some legal experts have told me that's a problem."