Guess what, American Idol. There are people all over this great country and there are all kinds of colloquialisms out there. Some might call it local flavor, but it’s all America so you’d do well to do a little bit of homework before you smear a guy’s name across national television. For those who were inclined to tune into the trainwreck portion of the newest season of American Idol, you might have caught poor Mark Mudd getting harassed by Paula and Simon after they rejected him from the show. As Mr. Mudd was leaving he said to the judges “Take care and be careful.”
At this Paula freaked out, accusing Mudd of threatening them. He tried to explain that it was just a general statement of farewell but she was having none of it and Simon was right there with her. Even more offensive was the Idol hype machine jumping all over this as well. We got teasers on Tuesday’s show and all the way up to Mudd’s performance about how he “threatened” the judges and was all crazy and dangerous. Horseshit!
See, I live in a small town in the Midwest and went to college in the Ozarks. I can’t count how many times I’ve been advised to “be careful” when I was leaving someplace, or someone was leaving mine. It’s used interchangeably with such phrases as “See you later,” and “Take care.” Oh wait, Mark did say “take care,” too. Guess what guys, he was being friendly. In fact, “Be careful” is often reserved for people you care about, because you don’t want anything bad to happen to them.
But of course American Idol should know all about that, right? After all, they truly represent all of America! As long as all of America talks like people on the West Coast. I guess it’s a shame that Mark Mudd was raised in a Midwestern rural community where he learned such values as caring for his fellow human beings and respect for others. Certainly the judges showed him very little respect during his audition as they do so many of the contestants.
Then they made a mockery of Mark Mudd, putting him on television because he has a certain look of danger (which he does, but so did Scott Savol and you let him through … oh wait, that’s more of an urban dangerous; I get it now!) and he said something that they didn’t understand. Hell, they were in Louisville. Couldn’t they have maybe asked a few locals what that expression was if truly none of them had ever heard of it? Or check it out on the Internet. Maybe folks were laughing at Mark on the coasts and maybe they think this poor guy was actually threatening the judges, but those of us in the Midwest know better.
Despite how his admittedly bad singing and his image was received by the judges, Mark Mudd was being a nice guy. He was wishing the judges well. And they were dicks about it. And then American Idol was an even bigger dick about the whole thing, trying to sully Mudd’s name over the span of at least a week. I say shame on you American Idol, and I say Mark Mudd deserves an on-air apology. Maybe something like this: “We would like to apologize to Mark Mudd for making him look like a crazy serial killer in our promos and hype for the show American Idol. As it turns out, he’s just a really, really nice guy. And we’re assholes.”
Clacked by Jason Hughes 
on Jan 22, 2009 @ 16:30 EST5EDT
I always say “Drive Safely” because my father says that to me. I had a couple of accidents when I first got my driver’s license. People then always look back puzzled if it’s not in the middle of the winter and snowing like hell or icy.
To me it’s a way to show that I care about someone. I guess the guys over on Idol don’t understand that paradigm.
I say it every time some leaves wherever I am. Guess what? I couldn’t give a shit if Paula and Simon make it home safely. Reading things like this make me happy I’m not swept up in the hype and their overactive egos.
Yeah, WTH?
You know, considering how much of their show is based on exploiting people who can’t sing (though, they’re being willingly exploited at this point), I guess this is just par for the course.
I missed that part, but did see the lame ads. If he said “be careful” in a mean threatening way, then yes, however I doubt he did that. i don’t know anyone who says be careful, and I’m not elitist, frankly that word is a joke. This is just normal AI over doing things to get ratings they don’t need.
So Good-bye, take care… and be careful. ;)
I live on the East Coast and every time I leave the house or leave work, my significant other always says “be careful” to me not because it’s a threat (or that I’m a bad driver), but because there are bad drivers out there that you have to constantly be on the lookout for. Maybe all those who were offended by this episode should just turn off Idol once and for all!
I was very offended by the way the judges of American Idol behaved, and made Mark Mudd look like he could be dangerous. Simon was first to say Mudd made a threat. I’m sure he’s a freakin genius when it comes to the different cultures in America. I grew up in the Ozarks, and my whole family says “be careful” and “take it easy” or “take care”. What a bunch of jerks. I’m not too shocked to see this. Will all the cultural sensitivity discussion we have in the united states, the one thing I have noticed is that it is still o.k. in the eyes of many of the elitist (read california and new york) to make fun of Southern people. It actually the exact same offense as spouting off a racial stereotype when this happens. I’m suprised Randy didn’t jump in there and give the guy the benefit of a doubt, since he alone seems to have a down to earth side. They owe Mudd, the midwest and the entire South an apology. Simon and Paula, you were really lame, and obviously desperate for ratings.
i felt sorry for Mr. Mudd since they obviously singled him out as the creep de jour
I thought the same thing; he didn’t mean anything by it. The producers wanted to create controversy where there was none.
I live on the east coast and I also think the judges were overreacting. It was too bad to see them make a nice guy seem like a scary creep so they could grab more attention for themselves/the show.
I’m from Louisville and I was absolutely stunned when they said he was threatening them. He was a country boy telling them what every other person in Kentucky says to one another “take care, be careful” I say be careful more times in a day then i can count. It really made me mad that they made that poor man look so mean.
I totally agree. The way they treated him was ridiculous. If “be careful” is a threat, then I go around threatening people on a daily basis! Geez. I guess I’ve threatened my husband thousands of times then!
Paula and Simon owe him an apology.
Hi I am mark’s sister and I would just like to say thank you for saying what you said. He is a wonderful person!! Thanks again!!!
Chrissy Mudd BArnes
I used to work with Mark out in Shepherdsville and I thought that he did a very good job at singing White Lightning. I felt that the judges didn’t treat him fairly and he is just a good hearted country boy that sang a hard song and got treated unfairly. He would have gotten a yes from me that day. I hope all is going well with him and hope he returns to work soon. Even though he didn’t make it to Hollywood, if he comes back to work he will still be an idol to me. Good job Mark!!!
First of all I would like for everyone to know that I am Mark Mudd’s (BUBBA) sister. He is the most tender-hearted, sweetest,kindest person that you will ever have the pleaseure to meet. He is a very good singer. We come from a long line of people in our family that play instruments and sing. Mark’s and my dad and my dad’s brothers had a band and went to nashiville and almost got a recording record. My brother has had a very rough life. He used to be very obese abd has lost over 100 pounds. He was made fun of all his life for being fat. I played the big sister role and beat the crap out of anybody that picked on him, and I am a very little person. I can assure that when he told the judges to take care and be careful , he actually meant take care and be careful. He is a polite country gentleman. My mom and dad raised us to treat people with respect and that is exactly what we do. For Paula Abdul and Simon to treat him the way that they did infuriates me! In my opinion Paula and Simon need to give my brother a PUBLIC APOLOGY!!!! That was very uncalled for. Another question how on earth could Paula think that my brother’s University of Kentucky cellphone holder be a GUN? Something is seriously wrong with Ms. Abduls mind!!! She a few grapes short of a bunch in my opinion!!!
I was really annoyed too when I heard the way they reacted to his comment. Everyone uses that phrase where I live. I also LIKED his voice and his SONG!
I too thought they were way out of line, when picking on poor Mark Mudd, I thought he had a pretty good voice. They made me sick, I hope they are proud themselves, My husband and I both, wont be interested in more shows, thats not entertainment, he is more normal than they can ever hope to be…..I agree he really deserves a public apology, How stupid can they all be anyway? keep singing Mark!
American Idol once again proved to me they will do and say anything to get their ratings up, they have said ugly things to others every since I have watched, but treating this young man with so little respect takes the cake those four judges have no clue what other parts of the country consider to be a friendly phrase. I’m sorry Mr Mudd had to go through that just to increase the ratings BTW I thought he sound pretty good.If I’m not mistaking this was filmed before Paula’s ordeal with the obsessed fan which I have no ideal why anyone would be obsessed with her. Mr Mudd you seem to be a sweet guy and American Idol produces are JERKS.
Yep, we won’t be watching those jerks anymore at MY house unless they make a public apology to Mark. How in the world they took anything he said as a threat is BEYOND me. I thought “Isn’t that sweet” as he walked off telling them to “Be careful”. It is just a pleasant saying. Paul and the Simon are PARANOID. Plus Mark’s singing wasn’t half bad.
I’m so glad to find other people who agree! AI needs to apologize to Mark. I say take care or be careful interchangably all the time.
I thought Mark’s singing was good too. I agreed when they said not for that competition, but definitely a good bluegrass type singer. Mark should try this or something like it:
https://www.bluegrass.com/rockygrass/contests.html
I totally agree that American Idol owes Mark an apology. He was just being respectful to that bunch of morons. I’m from Texas…we say things like ‘be careful’, ‘take it easy’, ‘take care’, etc. all the time.
As for his singing, he was better than some of the people they have put through.
Mark, if you’re reading this, you are better off not associating with those jerks. Good luck for the future in all your pursuits!!
I tivo this show and my daughter and I are just now watching it. Neither of us had heard anything about what happened to Mark. I could not believe how Simon and Paula reacted. My family says “be careful” all the time. As soon as I saw it, I just had to get on-line and see what everyone was saying about it. Glad to see that I was not the only one upset. AI does a lot of things that I think are stupid and am not real thrilled with, but this is the first thing that they have done that has really offended me. Hopefully they will give Mark an apology, but I would not be surprised if they do not.
I agree that Mark was not right for American Idol, but I think he actually had a good voice and could make it as a bluegrass singer.
Yeah, they seriously need to make it up to this guy. Fly him to Hollywood and give him the VIP treatment during the finale.
When I moved down South, I regularly found myself confused by regional sayings, such as “My dog got gone” (meaning my dog is lost) and “‘Preciate ya” (short for appreciate you, as in thank you) heheh. But I’m learnin’ to talk Southern :)
Well this is good:
https://tv.msn.com/tv/article.aspx?news=350017>1=28103
i think she was genuinely scared. can you blame her? one of the contestants they let through turned out to be a stalker for god sake. anyway, idol did apologize