Suicide Idol's Brother, Friends Rip Paula Abdul

The brother of the Paula Abdul-obsessed "American Idol" reject who OD'd outside the star's LA home is blaming Abdul for crushing his sister's dreams and sending her on a downward spiral.

Paula Goodspeed, 30, had withered away to just 78 pounds at the sad end of her life, brought on by eating disorders and a broken Hollywood heart, her brother, Charles McIntyre, told The Post yesterday.

Although the grieving sibling disputed tentative police reports that Goodspeed committed suicide in her car, McIntyre said his sister's "Idol" tryout in 2005 crushed her dreams of stardom.

Goodspeed auditioned for Season 5 of the hit Fox reality show, and her train-wreck performance of "Proud Mary" brought jeers and cutting comments from the three "Idol" judges.

"[Abdul] didn't speak up for her. She let everyone take her down," McIntyre told The Post from his home in Maine.

"She [Abdul] said she was 'speechless,' when she could have said something in her defense."

Earlier in that "Idol" episode, Goodspeed showed off life-size drawings she had made of Abdul and professed her admiration for the former Laker Girl.

KEEP READING NY POST INTERVIEW

PLUS FROM THE NY DAILY NEWS:

A good friend has rushed to the defense of 30-year-old Paula Goodspeed, telling the Daily News that the aspiring singer wasn't a suicidal, "looney freakazoid" still obsessing over the mocking she received at her September 2005 "American Idol" audition.

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Instead, Goodspeed was upbeat and planning for the future when she last communicated with pal Brianna Schlanger less than 24 hours before cops recovered her body Tuesday.

"She sent me a text at 10:22 the night before about meeting for a latte and movie. She ended the message with a happy face," said Schlanger, a model from Reseda, Calif. "She seemed fine. Some

PLUS FROM PEOPLE, A DIFFERENT SIDE:

Last week, Paula Abdul got flowers with a note signed, "Love, J.T." and the message, "Hope you're doing great. Here's my new cell number."

Thinking they had come from her restaurateur boyfriend J.T. Torregiani, Abdul called him asking why he had changed his number, a source close to Abdul tells PEOPLE. When he said he hadn't, Abdul knew immediately who really sent them: ex-American Idol contestant Paula Goodspeed, according to the source....

Also, PEOPLE has learned, Goodspeed had changed her first name from Sandra to Paula.

Comments

[DaisyDooks]

Nope, can't blame anything on Paula. I saw the audition on Youtube video clip. That young lady (may she rest in peace) could not sing. She was horrible. Maybe, she was nervous, but she had no vocal control to even do a half-a.s.s good job. And...you could tell she had some issues way BEFORE coming to American Idol. She seemed fragile and disillusioned.

[slobone]

It'll be interesting to see if they tone down the ridicule next season....

[mlaiuppa]

In what way is Abdul obligated to defend a talentless, obviously mentally unbalanced, obsessed fan?

Eating disorders are an indication of something much deeper that needs to be addressed. If she had eating disorders, then they were in existence long before her 2005 failure on American Idol. Likely from her teens. The family should have known and the family should have addressed them. Family responsibility.

Abdul is in no way responsible for this.

[AProudRepublican]

It's scary that our culture has become one in which we think it's perfectly fine to ridicule and humiliate people on national television. What kind of a society are we??

Saying that people who audition "know" what they are getting themselves into is simply false.... have you ever misjudged whether or not you could handle something? I guarantee you that many of these contestants have as well... especially the ones that really "believed" they had talent and weren't expecting criticism.

Of course, American Idol is not to blame for the suicide...­. mental illness is always to blame for suicide, but the way they treated her was downright cruel.

I stopped watching American Idol and Realty TV and long, long time ago.....

[Motherunit]

I stopped watching reality tv & AI a long time ago too. "The Soup" shows me all I need to see of these shows. You don't have to be a fan of the show to be aware that even the good singers are subjected to sharp criticism from the judges. It's part of their schtick, and I don't believe the show would be nearly as popular without it. That being said, maybe they should start weeding out some of the more obvious head cases before putting them on national tv.

[RobHughey]

Who hasn't had, at some point in his or her life, someone say something cutting, horrible or absolutely mean to them? We all have at some point.

I'm sorry this young woman is dead, but putting the blame on the fact that her "dream of being a pop star" was cut down viciously.­.. that's awfully weak. We all have silly dreams when we're young. If she loved music and the industry so much, she should have considered what other things she could have done to be a part of the process.

This story just makes me sad for everyone involved.

[SEQUOIABISON]

The deal is this; American Idol producers go out of their way to find people who have absolutely no talent and mix them in with the people who have enormous talent.

From my perspective they do this intentionally, it gives the panel of judges an opportunity to show off their skills at ridiculing people. They could easily wean the contestants down to the true talented finalists before exposing the audience to laughable painful untalented performers, but that would spoil their true objective, making the judges look intelligent and witty at the expense of the talent challenged contestants.

[robiform]

I agree with everyone who has pointed out that this unfortunate woman's family and friends should not be blaming "American Idol" or Paula Abdul for what happened. In fact, I can't help but wonder if all the "blaming" by the family/friends is a prelude to a lawsuit! Instead of filing said lawsuit, maybe the family and friends should look into their own hearts and perhaps see that they were enabling this woman rather than helping her.

[rini]

I don't blame them for the entirety of Goodspeed's problems. However, you gotta admit, the show exacerbated the problems. If you think "This woman would have been just as sick and worshipped someone else if American Idol and Paula Abdul didn't exist," I would like to ask you. How do you know this? This woman got onto national television and was praised by Abdul, only to be mocked and humiliated later. She devoted time and energy to getting on American Idol and performing. This probably increased her emotional investment in the whole process, in the show and in Paula. Obviously, not everyone would have ended up committing suicide, but it could have been more than the straw that broke the camel's back for this woman.

American Idol is a pathetic, mean and profoundly stupid show. The music is pablum. There is no originality or creativity. The "stars" they create have no spark or edge. They are joiners, not creators.

[RobHughey]

Y'see, I don't agree with you. American Idol is certainly shallow, but it's also incredibly entertaining for millions and millions of people. That's the whole point. It doesn't have to be profound or deep; it's just a singing competition. There is room for all sorts of programming, and it doesn't all have to have the intellectual depth of the really "interesting" shows on TLC or the Science Channel.

[RealHRCFansVoteObama]

Of course, no one forces these people to audition. I doubt a club manager would be as catty as the Idol judges, but this show has been on long enough that would-be contestants should know what to expect.

[lilisfriend]

Jennifer Hudson, Clay Aiken, David Cook, Carrie Underwood, Daughtrey, Leona Lewis?
No Spark? Joiners? I don't think so. Talent ? YES

[AlligatorShuz]

And why is Paula Abdul always in Ebony and Jet Magazine?

[RobHughey]

Because she's a person of color.

[AlligatorShuz]

Paula Abdul is a drugged out drunk that also has psychological problems..­..
Paula Abdul is just as dumb as Sarah Palin and they both are marginally educated idiots.

[rini]

You are such a sweetie.

[RobHughey]

Feel better?

[DaisyDooks]

Kooky for coco-puffs!

[joe2891]

I hate to sound callous but I saw that audition on youtube. She was barely even singing, it was painful to watch.

This young woman needed psychiatric help, and someone should have had the courage to strongly suggest it to her.

[DaisyDooks]

I cosign.

[OSA23]

californiamark i strongly agree with -

why does this culture forget common sense and offer useless sympathy and empathy to individuals like goodspeed who refused to take personal responsibility for her own life's course, path, and direction.­..? this 'public outcry' seems knee-jerk and self-serving while refusing to accept the thought that paula goodspeed didn't prepare herself for the realization that she was unable to 'meet the performance criteria' of a reality show that creates faux musicians who will not leave a permanent legacy a la a bob marley, a la a diana ross and the supreme, a la a led zeppelin and rolling stones..

that american idol creates dull AND disposable musicians created to inflate the sagging sales of the music industry unwilling to invest their efforts and time developing true musicians who are willing to press the boundaries and limits of music. people need to stop fawning over a woman who they would never embrace and offer their support and empathy towards if they knew her personally­...... this smacks of pure hypocrisy.

[damnadamson]

It's part of the sick business of showing untalented people to the big 3 so 'we the people' can laugh at them and supposedly feel better about ourselves after watching .... does anyone feel good about this anymore?

[AlligatorShuz]

Paula Abdul is truly a untalented person. Have you ever heard her try to sing live!

[CalifroniaMark]

I am sadden by the loss of this young woman's life but the family needs to look at themselves and not A.I. or Paula Abdul. Where was her family when she insisted on spending time and thousands of dollars on producers and recording sessions when they knew she could not sing? Where were they when she changed her name from Sandra to Paula and painted pictures of Abdul for years on end? Where were they when she was reduced to 78 pounds?

They knew she had a real problem because when she went missing and the police asked the family where she would go her family directed them to the street where Abdul lives! So if they want to pass blame they should start with the mirror!

[beebee7]

I am sorry for this family's loss and I understand their grief; however, I don't know what good it's doing them to place the blame on Paula Abdul.

I saw this young lady's audition and it was terrible. She couldn't sing. It was also evident that she had some "issues" that required help. I'm sorry that she wasn't able to be helped on this earth with her problems. Prayerfully, she's at rest now.

[DrDemon]

The brother needs to "look in the mirror" himself as opposed to accusing others!