Fantasia's Hometown Hurt
Fantasia Barrino might be an American Idol, but she's definitely not Kyle Sandler and Jennifer English's.
The couple, who hail from Barrino's hometown of High Point, North Carolina, say the big-voiced AI champ dissed the burg to "to sell records."
And to that end, Sandler and English are demanding local officials remove a sign that says: "Welcome to High Point, home of Fantasia Barrino."
The protest comes in the wake of Barrino's autobiography, Life is Not a Fairy Tale, and interviews she did to promote the book, which came out last month, in which she has less than pleasant reminisces of her old stomping grounds.
In particular, the season-three Idol winner inferred the local school system was substandard because she never learned to read or write. Barrino has said she hid her illiteracy during her Idol stint by listening to lyrics until she had them memorized.
"You're illiterate to just about everything. You don't want to misspell," Fantasia told ABC's 20/20 of her struggles. "So that, for me, kept me...in a box and I didn't, wouldn't come out."
In her book, the 21-year-old single mom also recalled how she and her childhood pals used to refer to High Point as the "Land of the Dead."
"High Point is a depressing place for anyone who is not a furniture store owner," she writes. "High Point is all about furniture and nothing else."
"I can't stand behind her anymore," Sandler tells the News-Record of nearby Greensboro.
Sandler, who describes himself as a former fan, says Barrino is trashing the town to move more copies of her album, Free Yourself
"You don't need to cut on my town to sell your records," he says.
Sandler and English have even created a Website, Fantasialies.com, detailing their complaints against the former Idol darling.
The city of High Point has yet to officially respond to the couple's plea to remove the signage.
However, Mayor Becky Smothers says the town of 92,857 has "a lot more serious things happening right now than Fantasia's signs."
There was no immediate comment from Barrino. The "I Believe" singer, whose burgeoning career includes nods for both Vibe and American Music Awards this fall, is currently opening for the hottest act in music, Kanye West, on his Touch the Sky tour.
Her next show is Wednesday at Assembly Hall in Champaign, Illinois.
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