American Idol video of Jermaine Jones being kicked off of the show. Ryan Seacrest started off Wednesday’s episode on a serious note, explaining, “We discovered information that left us with no choice but to eliminate one of our finalists from the competition.” Seacrest was, as expected, referring to the revelation that Jermaine Jones was disqualified from the competition after producers discovered he had hid his serious criminal past.

Later in the episode, the show shared footage of producers confronting Jones about his failure to disclose his checkered history. Noting they were “surprised” by the information, which included two arrests in 2011 where he gave fake names to the police, the producers said they could’ve helped Jones had he come clean from the start.

A visibly anxious Jones explained that he was “scared and nervous” that he’d be “judged” and “penalized.”

“The fact is we’re not allowed to have anyone that has an outstanding warrant on the program,” said producer Ken Warwick, pointing out that Jones actually has four. He added, “You’ve put us in a very delicate position… We have to let you go.” Jones accepted his fate without any fuss or drama.

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