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

[rzan1]

I wonder if her family and friends encouraged her to seek psychiatric help? Sounds like she needed hospitalization. I don't know what the laws are in the state of California, but she was clearly a danger to herself. That being said, American Idol needs to change its tactics. They purposely allow untalented and delusional people to perform and then get rejected. This is such an obviously dangerous practice.

[BoardsOfCanada]

"They purposely allow untalented and delusional people to perform and then get rejected. This is such an obviously dangerous practice."
I agree, that basically sums up what I said in my post below.

[LexKitten]

I agree that it's a cruel practice, being mercilessly mocked on national television for doing something that you think you are pretty talented at would send a normal person over the edge...

It's like the talk shows where a guest finds out that their spouse is cheating on them or that their child isn't really theirs... it's sick entertainment and can really destroy someone's life. I've never understood why people find this stuff enjoyable, it's terribly sad.

[AddictedToHope]

Bring back (or renew) "The Gong Show". At least you know what you're in for.

[BoardsOfCanada]

No one is saying it's Paula's fault, or anybody else's, but it does finally bring some serious attention to how cruel and shameless the show is, which is why Brian Dunkleman left the show. What should bother most people are the obviously insecure and socially unstable contestents that are chosen in the initial auditions of 10,000-20,000 people. Some of these contestants are turned into humiliating caricatures that presents them as demented people.Now, some of these people have shticks of some sort, which is fine, but others are intentionally portrayed as sad lunatics without the contestant having any idea of how they are being manipulated by the show simply because they don't know any better. The complexity of how the show portrays some of these people is why many viewers are too ignorant to realize how cruel it is to make anyone out to be a degenerate. This will hopefully reveal how degrading the show is, and I guarantee you they will change some of their ways.

[BoardsOfCanada]

Just so I'm not misunderstood, I'm meant besides the girls brother, no one is blaming Paula.

[rzan1]

Your statement was more impactful than mine. I agree with you completely.

[kawreader]

I understand your point, but I think it's a little extreme to say that American Idol is to be blamed for people going on the show and humiliating themselves.

This situation is really not a widespread one... but the Army sending mentally unstable men and women over to Iraq is, and should get the same (read: more) attention as this story.

[IamPhenom]

I agree somewhat, but American Idol really has no responsibility to help the public in any way. They are not NPR or the CBC/SRC. They can portray people in any way they want really. People choose to appear in the auditions with the full knowledge that they could possibly be made fun or and/or rejected. I mean, the show is famous for one judge (Simon) being especially mean and critical, so they should all know exactly what they are getting into.

You could even make an argument that they HELP the people they reject or make fun of. Some of these people are living with this delusional dream of being a music star, and probably need a dose of reality. That reality can make them realize there are other career areas to focus on. It makes some of them "grow up" and face the facts that they will have to find a "real job" like the rest of us. Some of the contestants are told their flaws in the hopes that they improve those areas (more singing lessons, better overall style, etc.), which one could argue is constructive criticism meant to help them.

[Mickey7]

Every adult human being has some responsibilty to make sure that weak or mentally ill people are not exploited or publicly humiliated and certainly a responsbility not to make bullying humiliation a form of entertainment. The very fact tthat you acknowledge these people may be delusional means you recognize there is some fragility in their psyche that needs to be addressed--but it should be done by a professional, not snickering, abusive pseudocelebs. Being slammed in public is unlikely to be effective "therapy" for delusions, as even a very basic education about the nature of mental illness would teach ('dose of reality' is not a medication) , and attempting to make that claim is simply an effort to rationalize our own apparent desire to watch this crap when it is absolutely clear that this behavior is not acceptable. There is no excuse for cruelty and American Idol has risen to the level of cruelty on more than one occasion. We can't blame Paula Abdul for this. She and Simon and Randy have a platform for their bad behavior because we (at least a large percentage of us) choose to watch them.

[fluentinsilence]

Abdul isn't responsible for this; the girl was atrociously bad and had insecurity issues which led her to this. The brother should have kept his mouth shut.

[elizyum]

mental illness runs in that family.

[MiraMcB]

It's all too convenient to blame the reality shows when something like this happens. Certainly, it makes for good press. However, the real "reality" is that these shows have been around for years now and these contestants know exactly what they are letting themselves in for. They are hoping to circumvent the traditional road to fame and fortune and take the short-cut via American Idol, America's Got Talent, etc. If that's what they're after, they are going to have to take the hits that go with it.

Sad as this situation was, the producers are not running a social services organization. Their job is to get them in, assess them and get them out because there are 10,000 other hopefuls waiting in the wings to get through. Unfortunate that this poor lady was hurt or embarrassed, but so have hundreds or thousands of others over the years. It was obvious from her audition tape that there was a lot wrong there, but that should have been addressed by her family, friends and physicians.

[rzan1]

American Idol encourages these people There is a stringent audition process, and they are looking not only for semi-talented people but also people who don't realize how bad they are, and they exploit these people. They do share responsibility for this woman's death. If the network had any conscience, they would shut this program down - permanently.

[DrJimmy]

grow up

[Witkacy]

The victim of a stalking is at fault for not placating the stalker??

John Lennon was murdered by exactly this kind of character. Bjork was lucky not to have been the victim of a letter bomb sent by a psycho; and of course there's the example of Jodi Foster and Reagan's attempted assassin; and Selena...and on & on...These people - people like Abdul - are simply doing their job, they're simply hustling to keep themselves together and make a living; and these personal stalkers who target them should be considered no differently than stalkers/psychos in any other workplace. The fault for these incidents should NEVER be put at the feet of entertainers who - at the very basic level - are doing their best work when they're exciting their audience, drawing them in through a simulacrum of "intimacy," etc.

And to treat the American Idol show as if it's drawing moths to the flame is silly. The cruelty dished out by the few judges on that show can't possibly approach the fickle, senseless cruelty of the biz as a whole, which has worked hard to chew up & spit out its finest artists since its beginning.

[TheFabOne]

I hate that this poor girl killed herself. I hate even worse that Paula Abdul is the one who is looked at as actually having talent enough to tell someone ELSE that they shouldn't sing.

[Deparis]

Too many looney out there these days. Unfortunately.

[nonamesleft]

Blaming Paula Abdul for your crazy sister's suicide? Really? That's beyond pathetic.

[freddymedal]

Paula being speechless amounted to "If you can't say something nice.............."

Sorry brother, your family had to see signs of her becoming more unstable, and you should have tried to do something, even though that may not have helped. I'm sure Paula Abdul was afraid Goodspeed. Anyone think not, just remember John Lennon or Selena and the head of her fanclub. Goodspeed needed mental help.

[rzan1]

When a family member drops to 78 pounds, it is beyond obvious that they need medical help. The family needed to proceed with involuntary commitment to get this woman the help she needed.

[harriettubman]

WTH? If someone is that emotionally vulnerable they do not need to go on any shows where there is competition. No one killed this girl but herself.

[DocManhattan]

Trying to get into the performing arts by a conventional route -- years of training, constant criticism -- can be harsh, but at least then the student always has a realistic idea of their own strengths, weaknesses and potential. But shows that offer a short-cut to stardom seem to be just brutal -- some people cherish unrealistic fantasies without any inkling that you actually have to work hard for years to have something to offer in performance, then they get torn down with sarcastic comments on national television? No surprise that it can traumatize a person.

I don't think this is Abdul's fault. But I really don't like these kinds of shows ...

[DofG]

The people who are used, and traumatized, by this "ratings magnet" are victimized by the vanity of their own self-image, not ever realizing that one cannot attain anything in this world that can add any more value than what we are already born with!

The title says it all: "American Idol"

"American Idolatry"

[JM32]

While in no way praising Idol, which, while being a guilty pleasure for many, including occasionally me, and having more than a little to answer for, this poor young woman was deeply disturbed and absent Idol would have found something or someone else on whom to fixate and through which eventually to destroy herself.

[SpoxLogic]

Sound to me like another individual who was unable to cope with failure. I guess you can say they lack the street smarts. I have always felt that we coddle our kids too much and they grow up lacking coping skills. Failure builds character, but parents do not allow their kids to fail.

They over protect them and then turn them out into the cold cruel world, (if they don't suicide before then). Where they are promptly eaten up and spat out.

The flip side, are the children who have a lot of street smarts. Unfortunately, those kind of smarts, while it gives them great coping skills, don't translate well into the corporate world. So these are the kids that end up on the wrong side of the law, or have menial jobs for the rest of their lives.

[HWNA]

When the entertainment industry dangles the false hope of fame and fortune in front of people who have no chance at either, and combines that with mean-spirited, nationally televised criticism, stuff like this is bound to happen.

Ultimately it was this poor woman's own actions and obvious mental illness that led to this, but still...I hope the sleazy producers whose job it is to create degrading reality shows have trouble sleeping at night when things like this happen.

[brooklyncitizen]

There is no connection. There is nothing sleazyabout this show.....a lot of good has come out of it for many people such as Jenniffer Hudson and we have benefitted from her gift.

THis woman was emotionally unstable and to blame the show for this is absurd.