This morning on Twitter and Facebook, lots of people were very excited about an email posted on a website called JustPaste.it (this email has since been removed from the site). The email was supposedly from an insider at Sony and claimed to expose the corruption behind Britain’s Got Talent.
The email alleged that Ronan Parke, a 12 year old contestant, had been “groomed” for success by Simon Cowell’s production company for at least two years:
Scouts working for SYCO first saw Ronan Parke (the 12 year old singer) some two years ago when he was just 10 and was singing at a birthday party for former Norwich City goal-keeper, Bryan Gunn. Following that, Ronan was privately auditioned by SYCO scouts on two more occasions and, as is usual practice on BGT, he was “invited” to audition for the show as a “preferred” contestant. At the same time, Ronan and his parents were “required” to enter into a contract with SYCO.
The email went on to claim that SYCO paid for Parke to have extensive coaching, not just to improve his voice, but also his “dancing and stage-craft”. He was restyled extensively:
His hairstyle, his clothes, his poise, giving tv interviews, you name it, Ronan was styled within an inch of his life and all on the promise of stardom.
Realising that his “effeminate” character still showed through, despite attempts to present him as a “skater boy”, it was decided instead to exagerate this quality:
Disgustingly, SYCO planned to sexualise him. They were well aware of course, that if they sexualised a young girl to look sexually older than she is, all hell would let loose. But with Ronan, as one executive put it, “no one has ever seen a ‘gay’ kid before, it’ll be a novelty.” As for the pre-teen market, it was accepted they wouldn’t care if Ronan appeared gay or not…most probably don’t know what gay is anyway. And so, with a total gay- sexualisation of Ronan secretly planned, SYCO got to work.
Having invested all this time and money in Parke, obviously, SYCO would be determined to make him win. The email explained:
With Ronan ready to be unveiled, SYCO bosses, under instructions from Simon did something not done in previous series of BGT; the winner of BGT 2011 was decided long before the first auditions took place and that winner HAD to be Ronan Parke.
And so this weekend will see Ronan crowned as winner of BGT 2011.
I know for a fact, that the songs have already been chosen for Ronan’s debut single and album, and that the backing and drum tracks have already been laid down.
Lots of people retweeted the link to the email, outraged that SYCO could be so manipulative.
I wasn’t entirely convinced that the story was genuine. I wondered where it had come from. I googled the link. It seems the first person to post the story on Twitter was someone called @ukLegion:
#include damage.h@ukLegion
#include damage.h
An industry insider at #BGT spills his guts on how this year has been totally stiched up for Ronan Parke to win
http://justpaste.it/c8gJune 1, 2011 8:00 pm via webReplyRetweetFavorite
In fact ukLegion had already made the same allegations before the JustPaste.it email had been posted online:
#include damage.h@ukLegion
#include damage.h
@RubyW_TW Don't waste your money – #bgt is fixed. Cowell first met Ronan Parke when he was 10 – believe me he was always gonna win this year
June 1, 2011 1:51 am via webReplyRetweetFavorite
ukLegion claims he was able to make the same allegations before the JustPaste.it email was posted online because he first saw it on Facebook and “thought it was interesting”:
#include damage.h@ukLegion
#include damage.h
@white_mischief @Scarney168 @gracedent All i did was see it on FB – thought it was interesting and tweeted the link. No crime there
about 9 hours ago via webReplyRetweetFavorite
When asked to post a link to the original Facebook post, ukLegion explains why that is impossible:
#include damage.h@ukLegion
#include damage.h
@writerchica Sorry – can't do that coz it's a "closed" a/c just for hackers & coders etc. We are a group called Anonymous and some (cont..)
about 9 hours ago via webReplyRetweetFavorite
Asked if he wrote the email himself, he replies:
#include damage.h@ukLegion
#include damage.h
@theboylatch good god no – better things to do – I first saw a link to the doc on FB, looked interesting and I tweeted it here
about 11 hours ago via webReplyRetweetFavorite
Good god no, better things to do
In the last forty eight hours or so, ukLegion has tweeted eighty five times. Of those eighty five tweets, about three quarters of them have been about Ronan Parke.
Prior to that, ukLegion had tweeted quite extensively about Ronan. For instance, Ronan will grow up to be a “mega-bender”:
#include damage.h@ukLegion
#include damage.h
@1D_GETINMYPANTS who cares? Are you blind? Ronan Parke will grow up to be a mega-bender…he'll never be interested in girls #sillybitch
May 31, 2011 9:27 am via webReplyRetweetFavorite
Ronan’s parents should be shot for allowing him to mince around on TV:
#include damage.h@ukLegion
#include damage.h
@Nicole_Davies Ronan Parke should be in school, not mincing around on nat tv. His parents need shooting for allowing it – he's too young ffs
May 31, 2011 10:05 am via webReplyRetweetFavorite
His parents are “fucknuts”:
#include damage.h@ukLegion
#include damage.h
@aaronramseyfans Yeah, that's right, Ronan Parke is only 12. So he should be in school not mincing around on nat tv. Parents are fucknuts
May 31, 2011 10:47 am via webReplyRetweetFavorite
His parents are “fucking morons”:
#include damage.h@ukLegion
#include damage.h
@1D_GETINMYPANTS Lot's of 12 yo's can sing, but their parents aren't fucking morons, unlike Ronan Parke 's, who put their kid on nat tv
May 31, 2011 10:18 am via webReplyRetweetFavorite
He makes jokes about Ronan’s ringpiece:
#include damage.h@ukLegion
#include damage.h
@Ronanatorz By the time he's 20, Ronan Parke 's ring-piece will be so badly battered, it will resemble a busted cat-flap #sogay
May 31, 2011 12:53 pm via webReplyRetweetFavorite
He makes jokes about Ronan’s teeth:
#include damage.h@ukLegion
#include damage.h
@licks_windows Yeah, perhaps Cowell will pay for Ronan Parke to get his fucked-up teeth fixed – he's got a big gap ffs
May 31, 2011 12:59 pm via webReplyRetweetFavorite
Ronan is clearly going to be gay:
#include damage.h@ukLegion
#include damage.h
@poppyjaade well he ain't gonna fancy you, or haven't you noticed…he's clearly gonna be gay
May 31, 2011 1:05 pm via webReplyRetweetFavorite
It goes on and on and on.
God no, better things to do
ukLegion, while tweeting the link to this apparent exposé, repeatedly claims to “feel sorry” for “poor Ronan”, yet was more than happy to repeatedly post tasteless comments about his sexuality.
I am no fan of Simon Cowell. I think there is something nasty about the way these programmes are set up at the expense of members of the public, but I don’t believe a twelve-year old boy should be used as a vector through which to attack Cowell. Whatever valid points you may have had are lost when you start talking like that, and these claims are just silly. There are legitmate complaints you can make, don’t go overboard, and don’t bully a child. That makes you a cunt.
ukLegion describes himself as a “coder and hacker”, so, you know, if I suddenly start sending you all weird emails or whatever, it’s probably him.