'America's Got Talent' singer apologizes...

[KateAggie]

For Explosive Tale.

What a douchebag.

articles.nydailynews.com/2012-06-09/news/32145216_1_poe-grenade-attack-brain-injuries

The country singer who is accused of lying about his military past on “America’s Got Talent” has apologized — yet he insists he wasn’t actually lying.

“I mean, as far as everything I said, I believe it wholeheartedly myself," a sobbing Sgt. Timothy Poe told WFAA-TV on Friday. "But I feel like I'm going crazy."

The North Texas soldier told the NBC series’ judges that he was hit by a grenade while serving in Afghanistan in 2009. He’s now saying that brain injuries he claims he sustained may have confused him about what actually happened. But military officials say there’s no record of the tragic tale he spun on the show.

“There was a guy who came up with a rocket-propelled grenade,” Poe said on the show Monday. “I saw it coming down, and by the time I turned and went to jump on top of my guys, I yelled ‘grenade’ and the blast had hit me.”

The soldier said he suffered a broken back and brain injuries, which he claims left him with a stutter.

Poe went on to sing a touching rendition of Garth Brooks’ song “If Tommorrow Never Comes.” A teary audience gave the singer a standing ovation and all three judges voted “yes” to move him on to the next round.

The Minnesota Army National Guard, however, has no evidence that Poe’s story is real.

“Sgt. Poe’s official military records do not indicate that he was injured by a grenade in combat while serving in Afghanistan in 2009, as he reports,” Lt. Col. Kevin Olson, a spokesman for the Minnesota National Guard, said in a statement Wednesday.

The country singer said that he may be confused because his “brain got scrambled” after the grenade attack, WFAA reports.

"I'm thinking, why have I for the last, over two years, believed things have happened to me and they might not have?" Poe told WFAA.

Poe also gave “America’s Got Talent” producers a photo of himself serving in Afghanistan, which aired on Monday night’s show. The singer has since admitted that it was not really him in the picture.

Howard Stern blasted Poe on his SiriusXM satellite radio show Wednesday.

“You could be the most f---ed up liar on the planet, but you never lie about your military service," he said, angrily. "This lie is so wrong on so many levels...This really sickens me."

Defenders of Freedom, a charity organization that provides financial support to wounded troops, released a phone interview Friday that Poe did with the nonprofit’s founder, Diana Cranston, in November. Poe did not stutter during the conversation, WFAA reports.

"I believe he's a liar, and I hate to say that," Cranston said.

Producers have not said whether they will edit Poe completely out of the show’s episode.

[EloiseWeenie]

Ugh, that's so f-ed up. I have a couple friends who have been seriously injured in Afghanistan and Iraq (it is a miracle they survived) and hearing stories like this disgust me. I hope his audition doesn't air (not like I watch).

[KateAggie]

Jun 15, 2012 16:28:19 GMT -5 EloiseWeenie said:

Ugh, that's so f-ed up. I have a couple friends who have been seriously injured in Afghanistan and Iraq (it is a miracle they survived) and hearing stories like this disgust me. I hope his audition doesn't air (not like I watch).

It already did. I don't usually watch, but I saw it the other night. Found out about his lyin' ways when I told my Mom about it--she told me what he did.

It's really sick. His wife was all bawling and what not.

[dev22]

Jun 15, 2012 16:31:06 GMT -5 KateAggie said:

Jun 15, 2012 16:28:19 GMT -5 EloiseWeenie said:

Ugh, that's so f-ed up. I have a couple friends who have been seriously injured in Afghanistan and Iraq (it is a miracle they survived) and hearing stories like this disgust me. I hope his audition doesn't air (not like I watch).

It already did. I don't usually watch, but I saw it the other night. Found out about his lyin' ways when I told my Mom about it--she told me what he did.

It's really sick. His wife was all bawling and what not.

Was the wife in on it, or had he been lying to her as well?

[KateAggie]

Jun 15, 2012 16:40:24 GMT -5 dev22 said:

Jun 15, 2012 16:31:06 GMT -5 KateAggie said:

It already did. I don't usually watch, but I saw it the other night. Found out about his lyin' ways when I told my Mom about it--she told me what he did.

It's really sick. His wife was all bawling and what not.

Was the wife in on it, or had he been lying to her as well?

Ooooo...good question. I don't know how long they'd been together. I want to say they were together before he went to Afghanistan, but I don't know for sure.

[imoan]

I was watching that episode. And when they put him through to Vegas and he was talking to Nick Cannon as he exited the stage, Nick actually pointed out that in the five minutes he just spoke to him, he hadn't stuttered once. At that moment, I had a twinge of "WTF?!" but didn't want to believe that someone would lie about something like that and thought maybe it happens when he's not super conscious of it (I used to have a priest that would stutter throughout his service, but we'd go out for a drink and it would only come up occasionally).

This makes me sad... like REALLY sad.

[Deleted]

There are so many things wrong with his explanation. I really hope he wasn't in on it.

[marie427]

Wow, this guy is horrible.

[ttt]

What the what? So he showed a picture of someone else in Afghanistan and said it was him? If he was really there, why not show a picture of himself??

And why would you lie about something like this??? Isn't it enough to have served over there??

[ttt]

Jun 15, 2012 16:10:12 GMT -5 KateAggie said:

“Sgt. Poe’s official military records do not indicate that he was injured by a grenade in combat while serving in Afghanistan in 2009, as he reports,” Lt. Col. Kevin Olson, a spokesman for the Minnesota National Guard, said in a statement Wednesday.

The country singer said that he may be confused because his “brain got scrambled” after the grenade attack, WFAA reports.

So, he's confused about what really happened because of brain injuries he sustained in an attack that never actually happened?

[dylanite]

Teaches us a fine lesson. Stop sucking the cock of the troops so hard.

[backinpgh]

I remember when I watched the audition thinking "He's not a good singer, if he weren't an injured vet they would not have voted him through."

So...yeah.

[marynjoe]

He also said that he only started singing after the accident because his speech pathologist told him to do it to help overcome the stutter. They now have shown pictures of him singing in a band before he was deployed. He's a lying liar.

[spitforspat]

I was at the auditions that day. It was 'meh'' but people were all USA and it was tx. Also- during taping we were led to believe the woman with him was his speech therapist. And we filmed all of our reaction shots way before the show ever started.

[laurenpetro]

ugh, my nephews really liked this guy, too.

[Deleted]

That is so messed up.

[druidp]

So can we safely say the moral of the stories this week are that reality shows are in fact NOT a reliable source of reality?

In other news, NBA refs never call traveling.

[EloiseWeenie]

LOL at a Purple Heart for being shot in the leg. For someone who was supposedly in the military, you would think his lies would at least be realistic.

[ttt]

But guys, he BELIEVED it! That traumatic war injury ear infection just totally screwed up his brain! He can't help it!

[marynjoe]

Jun 16, 2012 2:13:24 GMT -5 spitforspat said:

I was at the auditions that day. It was 'meh'' but people were all USA and it was tx. Also- during taping we were led to believe the woman with him was his speech therapist. And we filmed all of our reaction shots way before the show ever started.

Wait, what? So the people from the show deliberately lied to the audience about his fiancee, probably in an effort to gain your approval of him? That's pretty messed up. So how can they complain about him lying if they did the same thing?