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.

Story continues below

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

[drkazmd65]

I am, by no means a Paula Abdul fan,.... but Jesus F'ing Christ,.... trying to blame a semi-random celebrity because your (no offense intended) limited talent, apparently disturbed/unstable sibling offed themselves years after a bad experience in the presence of that celebrity,... that's just wrong.

The suicide of their sister is sad. Trying to blame that suicide on Ms. Abdul is almost sadder.

[Patriot68]

But that's the american way. Blaming others for everything under the sun while accepting no personal responsibility.

[ElectroJones]

The whole family sounds as delusional as the poor woman who killed herself.

[GayIthacan]

No one put an effing GUN to her head!!!!

For God's sake - EXPEND YOUR SYMPATHY ON THOSE WHO DESERVE IT - and not on fame-obsessed nutjobs like this one.

[deevee]

I think that brother of the poor woman needs to drop a sack and own up to his part of his sister's sad end. Paula Abdul is not part of this woman's family. Her family and friends failed her.

[cmangin]

Oh yeah, totally Paula Abdul's fault. She should have known this troubled woman would die 3 years later as a result of the torment of not getting on the show.

[vinimor]

It comes down to the producers of the show - not Paula

i work with vulnerable adults - i can spot one at 50 paces. American Idol (and it's british predecessors X Factor and Pop Idol ) have open auditions that are literally swimming with vulnerable people who are long on dreams and short on talent.

Us Brits are mostly surprised that someone hasn't topped themselves earlier, given the ritual humiliation dished out. It's an obvious problem and could spell the death of the format unless they sort their screening processes out.

[brummie]

These shows wouldn't be as entertaining without the ritual humiliation of the auditions, the whole thing is set-up and edited as such. There's obviously much more talented people than there are hopeless cases, but showing these hopeless cases makes "entertaining" television. Entertaining in a car wreck kind of way.

Many people have schadenfreude when watching these deluded souls. I mean contestants that are so obviously REALLY awful yet totally believe they have the X-Factor or will be the next idol. I'm not just talking about the contestants that are just OK.

These people are mostly vulnerable because of their own delusions. At the auditions they always say that their friends and family told them that they're good singers. I always wondered what kind of lying or uncritical friends are these. Isn't there a song that goes "what would you do if I sang out of tune...", "...I get by with a little help from my friends"?

These contestants are also vulnerable because they seem SO DESPERATE and pin EVERYTHING on this one audition, this one talent contest. Whatever happened to studying and a career to fall back on? All of this talent show/reality show nonsense is a sad indictment on our society in which celebrity just for the sake of it matters above all.

Ask a lot of kids nowadays what they want to be when they leave school, and many of them say they want to be famous or be a celebrity.

[TrishR]

For Americans to think that it's ok to broadcast the humiliation of unbalanced people because there is an audience willing to watch [& enjoy] it is pretty remarkable, considering that there are many Americans who think it's not ok to allow people to see broadcasts/performances that depict or simulate sex, or listen to songs, poetry, or dramas containing "dirty" words.

I am in favor of the Constitutional position on free speech - including expressing unpopular ideas and speaking individual words considered to be crude - but this isn't about free speeech. This is about big media corporations making money by broadcasting the crushing of someone's dream, however pathetic or unlikely to come true, because it's cheaper to round up desperate people with the promise of a "shot" at success than it is to produce scripted programs.

[Cybesq]

All you have to do is read the news in order to understand that Abdul has issues with her own emotional well being. The last thing she needs is to be responsible for is someone else's mental health.

[whit4brains]

I would hope if my family and friends saw me obsessing about someone so much that I changed my name to that person's name that they would get me help. I am sure they are feeling guilty but to blame Paula Abdul is ridiculous.

[nikky]

ABSOLUTELY RIDICULOUS PEOPLE TEND RATHER THEN LOOK INWARD BLAMB SOMEONE ELSE

[Prattvictory2]

It's seems a bit predatory to bring someone on a television show to make fun of them. But then again the public must be entertained that's why God gave us TV, Doritos and mentally unstable people to ridicule. Blame her family, I bear no responsibility, now what "reality" show is next?

[hereitis]

What do you mean predatory? No one makes these people audition for Idol. They audition on their own free will. I am not sure where the idea came from that the Idol contestants are somehow randomly "brought on television and made fun of." In the event someone is encouraged to audition for any reality show, said person has the option of saying "no."

[TrishR]

Here's what's predatory about it - these shows don't recruit by posting announcements saying, "Hey, losers, come be humiliated on TV." They lure people in by promising that one of them *will* be the Next Big Star, and there have even been runners-up who've followed their appearances with substantial success. The recruitment also makes it sound like they will be narrowing the field based on talent - not based on who it will be the most fun to pick on.

Expecting people to be able to objectively assess their own talents is asking them to do something that is virtually impossible for humans to do - this is why we don't let students grade their own papers. That's why Simon Cowell has observed that, during the early stages of the winnowing, he will warn the crowd of up to 15,000 people that if one of them has real singing talent it would be a surprise, that of 15,000 people in the audition, probably 15,000 will not have singing talent and to not expect to go any further, and then sees every single person who's rejected displays surprise. You can't blame humans for having human nature. But to exploit that is not very nice.

[drkazmd65]

Its not predatory,... it is more of a 'self-immolation' kind of thing.

Anybody with no talent, who doesn't realize that they have no talent, is deluded. Idol, sadly, just gives them a public venue to display the extent of that delusion.

[hardlyhikin]

With the tens of thousands of people who audition for that show, it took me a while to figure out (okay, I'm slow) why they would put the biggest losers in front of the camera. Seems like if you're going to put the delusional ones on air then you are encouraging their delusions and something like this is bound to happen sooner or later.

I don't have any problems with P.A., nor do I have a problem with calling a spade a spade but maybe they ought to be a little more careful about who they are going to have their fun with. I REALLY can't see trying to lay the guilt trip on Paula Abdul, she has no obligation to ease anyone's bruised ego.

[DrJohnnySkeptic]

That's just stupid.

[1sparrow]

i have to speak in first person here. when i chose to be a music major in 1973 i had no idea how much daily humiliation would be involved. it involved fantasies of me slamming the lid of a grand piano down on one professors head- and chasing the professor that witnessed it into a corner of the sound proof studio and beating her to death with a baseball bat. it took years but i finally realized they were about stealing my compositions. i eventually entered the dog eat dog of normal american business

[jeffhrsn]

Stealing your compositions!?

You might want to get some help.

[1sparrow]

that's funny. while living in the dog eat dog world of business i have survived. i have thrived. do you even have a clue of what music i was talking about?

[slaxx]

yeah, sure, just like it was jodie foster's fault that reagan got shot.

i can only imagine how traumatizing this must be for paula. it must s u c k to be famous.

[hereitis]

While sorry for the family's loss, to say that her death is Paula Abdul's fault is way out of lines. Appearance notwithstanding, it was quite evident that this girl had some psychological issues that perhaps her brother or other members of her family should have picked up on and sought attention for this young woman. While Paula Abdul tries to be as supportive of the contestants as she can be, she is not Idol's resident psychiatrist.

[char982]

Very true. Why would it Paula Abdul's responsibility to stand up for any contestant. Everyone who goes on the show knows how harsh the judges can be. It's a horrible thing that happened, and I guess they're just looking for someone to blame that could explain things.

[sstv]

We are all responsible for our own actions, BUT I think the show has always had a very ugly side that should have addressed long ago. Hopeful contestants are manipulated and thrown away when production no longer has a use for them. I don't see a problem with showcasing singers who can't hold a tune, but the show takes it to a whole different level of belittling and humiliation. A few years ago, I couldn't watch the audition shows, and last season I only tuned in to watch Archuletta sing. I sincerely hope the Producers take the show in a different direction.

[slaxx]

harsh? yes. but i don't know of any other idol contestents who did this. everyone knows what the show's about and what to expect.

this young woman probably would have met this same fate whether or not she ever went on idol. she was obvioulsy obsessed with abdul. plus, she was on idol 3 YEARS AGO.

i've seen people go through a lot worse in life than being told they're a bad singer.

[sepiasiren]

Being told they were a bad singer--sure--having you dreams gashed in front of gazillions of people by the person you idolize more than anything--I dunno...

[NeoObamacrat]

American Idol is great, but not that great. Surely, getting rejected by the judges is far too trivial a matter to commit suicide over.

It is obvious that she went a little coo coo for coco puffs; and over Paula Abdul. Yeck.
I feel saddened by the failure of her family to get her proper psychological treatment.