'SUPER EMBARRASSED'
BELOVED American Idol winner Samantha Diaz has revealed that she's back singing in New York City's subway system for money just three years after coming out on top in the competition show.
The update reduced fans to tears, as they called the situation unfair and heartbreaking.
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On Monday, Samantha- better known as Just Sam, posted a video of herself to Instagram singing in the New York City subway and explained how she went broke after the finale.
Just Sam, 24, won the singing competition in 2020, beating out Arthur Gunn.
She had her sound system, a water bottle, and a donation box in front of her, as she belted out a song.
The American Idol winner wore army fatigue pants, a T-shirt, and a jacket.
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Just Sam made a heartbreaking confession in her lengthy post.
"Back in 2021, I was super embarrassed to be going back to the trains. I didn’t want people to know that I legit needed the money & I didn’t want people to know that it wasn’t optional," she wrote.
"I was disappointed in myself for allowing myself to fall so low after winning idol, but then I had to take it easy on me and remember that I started my journey with Idol at 20 years old. Not even knowing anything about Hollywood or the music industry."
The 2020 winner continued: "Since then, I have learned so much and I’ve been able to take my experiences and share them with other artist in hopes that they don’t experience the same things that I did when It comes to making it in this life.
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"For my season, there was COVID-19 which literally had the world shut down and had many people in hiding unsure of what was going to happen next.
'I WAS READY'
"I was very much unsure of what was going to come. For a few months after winning I was unsure of what was next, but I was ready and waiting for whatever it was."
Just Sam continued: "Everyone wants to know what happened and why this or why that & I will answer those questions someday, but In the meantime I’ll say this. I never expected to win, but I did, I was so grateful and I know that people are feeling like I let them down.
"I used to feel like I let myself and everyone down too. I know that there’s more coming for me. I know that everything happens for a reason and I know that this too shall pass no matter what things may look like right now.
"I'm not like any other contestant that has ever had a chance to be apart of the American Idol production. My year was unlike any other."
"My grandmother is who I have and who I have always had and she knows absolutely nothing about the music industry all she knows is how to listen and call out a good singer when she hears one," she shared.
Just Sam concluded: "We didn’t know what to do with the win especially being that we had absolutely no help. There are people who have had more success than me and good for them I’m happy for them, but I am not them. I don’t like my situation, but it won’t be this forever."
'TRULY HEARTBREAKING'
Fans took to Reddit with her post and commented on how heartbreaking it was.
"Sam's story is truly heartbreaking. She didn't deserve any of the mistreatment she received. I don't know what 'we didn't know what to do with the win' really means from her perspective but it sounds like she's blaming herself for the mistreatment," one person wrote.
"It shouldn't be up to her to do everything when she supposedly won a record contract.
"I can only hope that she remains strong and is able to persevere. I hope she has love in her life. I hope she's okay and healthy. She's immensely talented though and shouldn't be struggling in this way."
"This is super sad," said another.
A third added: "This is completely unfair to her. I hope someone on Idol sees this and invites her back to sing or something."
"Really terrible. Her treatment is one of the things that gets me questioning if I should still be supporting the people that dropped her like this by watching the show," wrote a user.
'I THOUGHT IT WOULD BE EASY'
Despite being a winner of the show, Just Sam was caught in a scandal that Idol had tried to sweep under the rug.
She said in a string of Instagram stories in 2022 that things had not worked as she had hoped and had gone broke after her time on the show.
"I thought it was gonna be easy, just go to the studio, record, put out music," she explained.
"And that's not how the world works. That's not how the industry works. It takes time, it takes money that I don't have. It takes patience."
Due to her winning, Just Sam had gotten a deal with Hollywood Records but left the label before she ever recorded a song.
This resulted in her having to pay the label money and causing her to go broke.
"I was not the one that pulled [my 'Rise Up performance'] down from iTunes, Hollywood Records did that," Just Sam said.
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"I don't know the logistics behind it. I don't know the legal side of things. But I believe that when we parted ways, in order for them to keep 100% of the money that was made from 'Rise Up,' I think they had to pull it from streams so that I wouldn't get a cut, which is smart. Smart move Hollywood."
She revealed that she had to invest in herself and is paying her own recording bills and can't afford to release music because "mastering music costs a lot of money."
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