"American Idol" finalist Caleb Kennedy leaves show after video showing KKK-style hood surfaces
CBSN
"American Idol" finalist Caleb Kennedy is leaving the singing competition show after a video surfaced showing him sitting next to someone who is wearing a cloth resembling a Ku Klux Klan hood.
Kennedy, 16, addressed the video and told fans on Twitter that he will no longer be on American Idol on Wednesday. "There was a video that surfaced on the internet and it displayed actions that were not meant to be taken in that way," Kennedy said. "I was younger and did not think about the actions, but that's not an excuse."Ashley White received her earliest combat action badge from the United States Army soon after the first lieutenant arrived in Afghanistan. The silver military award, recognizing soldiers who've been personally engaged by an attacker during conflict, was considered an achievement in and of itself as well as an affirming rite of passage for the newly deployed. White had earned it for using her own body to shield a group of civilian women and children from gunfire that broke out in the midst of her third mission in Kandahar province. All of them survived. She never mentioned the badge to anyone in her battalion.