If you ever wondered why former "American Idol" contestant Mario Vazquez suddenly dropped out of the show in Season 4, it may be time for the truth to come out.
Vazques is now being sued for alleged sexual harassment by a former employee of the show for an incident that happened backstage in February 2005. Shortly after that, Vazquez dropped out of Idol saying it was for personal reasons.
According to the lawsuit obtained by TMZ, Vazquez allegedly sexually harassed Magdaleno Olmos, an assistant accountant at the time for Fremantle Media, the company that produces the show.
In the lawsuit, Olmos says the incident started when Vazquez "stared lasciviously, smiled lasciviously … and on one occasion followed him into a bathroom."
The lawsuit alleges Vazquez "started to rub his genitals over his pants." It also says Olmos opened the stall door and saw Vazquez standing in front of him with his pants down, masturbating.
The document says Vazquez pushed Olmos "further into the stall and continued masturbating with one hand while trying to pull down Olmos' pants with another hand."
Olmos says Vazquez touched his chest and stomach underneath his shirt, and touched his genitals as Vazquez "attempted to unzip" Olmos' pants. Vazquez then allegedly asked Olmos whether he wanted oral sex.
In the lawsuit, Olmos says that as he "managed to get out of the stall, and attempted to leave the bathroom," Vazquez grabbed his arm to stop him and continued to call Olmos to come back as Vazquez stayed in the bathroom with his pants down.
Olmos also says in the lawsuit that he tried to report the incident to a supervisor who allegedly responded by telling Olmos that he was "crazy" and repeatedly threatening to fire him. A few months later, Olmos says, he was terminated from American Idol.
Comments
I can't beleive it!! I like Mario's cd even though he did not sell enough to became a star. His album with guitarist Cesar is much, much better. He should work with him to re-start his career specially after this lawsuit. Otherwise he will never find mainstream success.
Posted by: Amanda Davis | March 21, 2007 5:22 PM
maro you are so hhhhhhhhhhhhhooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooottttttttttttttttt
Posted by: kimyatta ayers | April 9, 2007 10:23 PM