American Idol got heated Sunday night when a contestant opened up about surviving a school shooting, bringing judge Katy Perry to angry tears.
Trey Louis, a 21-year-old native of Santa Fe, Texas, charmed the judges—Perry, Luke Bryan, and Lionel Richie—with his rendition of the country song “Stone” by Whiskey Myers. After receiving a standing ovation, Louis shared that he had survived a school shooting in Santa Fe that killed eight students and two teachers in 2018.
“I was in art room one, and he shot up art room two,” Louis said, visibly emotional, adding that he “lost a lot of friends.” The gunman, Dimitrios Pagourtzis, was charged with capital murder for the shooting at Santa Fe High School, and earlier this month was deemed incompetent to stand trial.
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Upon hearing Louis’ story, Perry dissolved into tears and put her head on the desk in front of her before shouting, “Our country has fucking failed us!”
“Facts,” Louis responded.
“This is not OK,” Perry continued. “You should be singing here because you love music, not because you had to go through that fucking bullshit. You didn’t have to lose eight friends. I hope that you remind people that we have to change, ‘cause you know, I’m scared too.”
“It’s terrible, Katy,” Louis agreed. “It’s horrible.”
As intense as Louis’ audition got, it did at least end happily—the judges all huddled around him and voted yes, sending him to Hollywood.
