“American Idol” has been one of those shows which never stops surprising us season after season. However, the show’s awe-inducing factor is usually about its contestant’s vocal skills and not about their scandals.
The latter is the case of the 17th season’s winner Laine Hardy, who was arrested in 2022 facing felony charges. This scandal was preceded by a series of bad moments which endangered his young career, though Laine was finally able to move on from all those difficulties.
Nevertheless, there are still many unanswered questions about Laine Hardy’s arrest, how the case was resolved in the end, and the future of his career.
Are you also wondering about these things? Then stay with us to find them out!
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Why Was He Arrested?
News about Laine Hardy’s potential arrest came out in April 2022, through a Facebook statement posted by the singer himself. In the post, Laine affirmed that, despite his fame, he wanted to keep certain details about the case in ‘privacy’, due to the ‘sensitive nature’ of the accusations made against him.
Not long afterwards, several news platforms came forward with details about the case, revealing that an ex-girlfriend had accused Laine of bugging her dorm’s bedroom. According to reports, the unidentified ex-girlfriend and Laine had been dating since November, and broke up in the early months of 2022. The woman, who then attended Louisiana State University, found a recording device in early April of that year when several weeks had passed since the pair broke up.
While it’s unclear when exactly Laine inserted the bugging device in his ex-girlfriend’s room, the reports pointed out that he had been aware of certain events of her life from December 2021, despite the woman never revealing these to him. The victim stated that Laine had confessed to her that he was recording her in February 2022, just a couple of months before she found the bugging device under her bed. He was also accused of having a fake Instagram profile, which he used to ‘cover up’ that he was recording her.
The Aftermath
Following the accusations of bugging, Laine Hardy was arrested by Louisiana’s police while facing an investigation for interception and disclosure of wire, electronic, or oral communication crimes. As reported by the local news site BRProud, Laine was co-operating with the investigation after being booked into prison, with the singer confessing that he had put the bugging device in his former girlfriend’s room.
Nevertheless, in the end Laine wasn’t actually sentenced to jail. According to the Daily Advertiser, the singer avoided incarceration for being a non-violent offender, on top of being the first time he had committed a criminal offense. This led authorities to put him in a diversion program, which meant he had to attend counseling and do community service to avoid a jail sentence.
As stated by the authorities, the victim agreed with the deal, even though Laine’s crimes are usually estimated at a minimum of two years in prison and thousands of dollars in fines. With that being said, the diversion program didn’t have a definite duration and was up to the counselors to decide when Laine would get out of it.
What Is Laine Doing Now?
These days, Laine Hardy is active in the music industry, but it took him a while to get back on track. Following the charges he faced for bugging his ex-girlfriend’s dorm room, in October 2022 he announced his exit from the Entertainment 19 and Disney Music Group labels, with which he had been working since his “American Idol” victory in 2019.
According to Laine, he was grateful that having worked with both companies opened important doors for him as a musician, but it was time for him to ‘take (his) career’ in new directions. Nevertheless, it’s unclear whether Laine’s decision had anything to do with the issues with the law he faced before that.
In October 2023, Laine affirmed on social media that he was starting a ‘new chapter’ in his life after overcoming ‘good’ and ‘bad’ experiences, at a time when he had kept himself away from public life for almost a year. Although the post didn’t hint that he was working on new music, Laine soon posted a funding campaign to help him afford the costs of making music and touring, collecting over $3.500 by the time he closed the campaign.
Since his return, Laine hasn’t released new music but has been performing at country music shows.
Discography
Not long after debuting in “American Idol” during the 16th season, Laine Hardy released his first single “In the Bayou” in May 2018, and contained two original songs, including an eponymous one and “Louisiana Lady”, on top of Laine’s cover of Band of Heathens’ “Hurricane”. Later that year, he released a cover of Elvis Presley’s “Blue Christmas”.
In 2019, Laine released the single “Flame” to be performed before his finale night at the 17th season of “American Idol”. The next year saw him releasing several singles such as “Ground I Grew Up On”, “Please Come Home For Christmas” and “Other LA”.
The year 2021 saw Laine releasing the singles “Memorize You”, “Authentic” and “Here’s To Anyone”, alongside his first compilation entitled “On The River”. However, Laine hasn’t released new music since he came back to the music industry in late 2023, despite the high expectations put on him by his fans.
His Path As An Idol
The first time we saw Laine Hardy in “American Idol” was in 2018, when he auditioned for the 16th season of the show. That time, he conquered the hearts of the judges with a rendition of Band of Heathens’ hit song “Hurricane”, obtaining a ‘yes’ from everyone.
Back then, Laine was still only 17 years old but had plenty of performing experience as part of the Band Hardy, formed alongside his brother Kyle and cousins. However, he didn’t make it too far in the competition, being eliminated shortly after the 50 cut was announced.
Later in 2019, Laine set foot on the “American Idol” stage to accompany a friend during her audition, but was asked to perform on his own by the judges, who immediately remembered him. This time, Laine not only made it into the competition, but also had a notable path in it, gaining the hearts of the audience and the judges’ approval before eventually winning the Idol’s title with his original song “Flame”.
While Laine hadn’t initially intended to join “American Idol” again after being eliminated the first time, his willpower made his eventual victory possible…’if at first you don’t succeed ….!?
