He may have been mocked on Saturday Night Live but former American Idol wannabe Corey Clark is making it clear that his allegations about his affair with Paula Abdul are no laughing matter. (At least not to him.)
In the wake of Abdul's SNL appearance in a skit that lampooned the recent Idol controversy, Clark is firing back, stating that he is in possession of "explicit" and "incriminating" evidence that proves his claims about his Idol experience are accurate.
The nature of said evidence is unclear, and according to attorney Richard B. Jefferson, Clark will not be elaborating on what, exactly, it might consist of.
In an email to E!, Jefferson said that Clark does not have "any plans to voluntarily reveal additional incriminating evidence, which he possesses, to the general public that undoubtedly proves the extent of their involvement because of its explicit nature."
However, Jefferson indicated that Clark would be willing to "fully cooperate with any governmental agency that launches an investigation stemming from his claims."
Of course, no government agency has yet stepped up to probe the Fox TV talent show.
Abdul has denounced Clark as a "liar" and called his claims on ABC's Primetime Live special an attempt at "character assassination."
"All my life, I have been taught to take the high road, and never to dignify salacious or false accusations," Abdul said last week. "And I have been taught never, never to lie. Not only do I never lie, I never respond to lies, no matter how vicious, no matter how hurtful.
"I do trust my fans who can see through attempts at character assassination, and I do trust the essential fairness of the American public."
Clark's team was ready with a comeback.
"Neither Ms. Abdul's vague statement nor her satire regarding this incident refutes her inappropriate relationship with Mr. Clark or discredits the veracity of his claims," Jefferson wrote.
Meanwhile, the sharp-tongued Simon Cowell weighed in on the controversy during an appearance on The Ellen DeGeneres Show, scheduled to air Wednesday.
"It was quite funny, because, you know, we'd seen the trailers [for Fallen Idol] like everybody else, you know, 'shock, horror, you won't believe what's on the show'...and then it was quite obvious that this was actually just a huge plug for his appalling new album," Cowell said.
"And I have to say in defense of Paula, I've worked with her now four seasons, I mean, you would have heard rumors of this stuff, you know what it's like when you work on a show, and it was all news to me and I think it was all news to her. And I think it's just another controversy on American Idol."
Fox and the producers of American Idol have said that they are investigating Clark's allegations. However, Clark has been resistant to assist in the probe.
"I don't have any interest in helping American Idol out whatsoever, because they haven't helped me out whatsoever," Clark said last week on Good Morning America. "They made it very hard for me to do what I'm doing, which is my career."
On Tuesday, Jefferson clarified those remarks. "Mr. Clark has not been formally requested by Fox to assist with an investigation into his claims against Ms. Abdul," the lawyer told E! "He has only been made aware of their alleged request through the media."
In the midst of the Idol whirlwind he's created, Clark is preparing to release an album and has published an account of his claims titled They Told Me to Tell the Truth, So...(The Sex, Lies, and Paulatics of One of America's Idols), which is available through his Website, coreyclark.com.
In current Idol news, the final four contestants--Bo Bice, Carrie Underwood, Anthony Fedorov and Vonzell Solomon--will sing for America on Tuesday night, with one of them headed for elimination on Wednesday.
Last week, beefy crooner Scott Savol was sent home, despite the best efforts of anti-Idol site votefortheworst.com. The site has now thrown its, er, support behind Federov.