American Idol fans spoke out online on Sunday night (May 23) during the ABC series' season 19 finale over a remark longtime host Ryan Seacrest made to finalist Chayce Beckham.
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The 24-year-old Idol winner from Apple Valley, California has been open about past struggles with sobriety, as covered in his current single "23."
After Beckham's finale episode performance of The Beatles' "Blackbird," judge Luke Bryan promised the contestant a bass fishing trip to celebrate.
Following Bryan's offer and compliments for Beckham from Katy Perry and Lionel Richie, Seacrest appeared onstage and made the controversial comment.
"You'll need to get some beers, right? You can't go fishing without some beer. Ice cold," the Live With Kelly And Ryan host said (as quoted by The Sun).
Even if Seacrest simply wanted to play up country cliches to tease Bryan and wasn't considering Beckham's struggles, his flippant remark got blasted on social media.
"Pretty sure Ryan Seacrest just encouraged a recovering alcoholic to drink beer," wrote one Twitter user, with others questioning if Seacrest blanked on Beckham's story.
Beckham went on to defeat Douglas, Georgia's Willie Spence, age 21, and Lakewood, Illinois native Grace Kinstler, age 20, and become your latest American Idol winner.
Read More: Chayce Beckham Wins 'American Idol' + Duets With Luke Combs
Special guests for the American Idol season finale included Mickey Guyton, Sheryl Crow, Chaka Khan and Fall Out Boy.
Beckham told the Los Angeles Daily News that he has no intention to slow down now that Idol's over and live music's bouncing back from the COVID-19 pandemic.
"I think it's super important to take the momentum that you have and keep going with it," Beckham told the newspaper. "And not say, 'Oh man, this crazy show's over with, I'm going to relax for a month or two.'"
Beckham's audition song at the beginning of the season was "What Brings Life Also Kills" by Kolton Moore and The Clever Few.
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