An American Idol contestant who didn’t advance in the competition but went viral over a controversial clip has been sentenced to 25 years in prison. Back in 2018, Katy Perry sparked backlash when she kissed a 19-year-old American Idol contestant, Benjamin Glaze, without his consent. When Glaze auditioned for the show, he told the judges that he had never kissed anyone before. Perry then urged him to come closer and kiss her.
“What, on the cheek?” Glaze questioned at the time. He then proceeded to kiss Perry on the cheek, but she complained that he “didn’t even make the smush sound” and gestured for him to try again. When he leaned in to kiss her on the cheek again, she suddenly turned around and kissed him on the lips.
The controversial clip has circulated on social media for years and even resurfaced this month. But now, Glaze is in the news again after he pleaded guilty to Aggravated Possession of Child Sexual Abuse Material. In an update shared by the Tulsa Police Department in Oklahoma on September 19, officials declared that Glaze had pleaded guilty and been sentenced to “25 years, with 15 years served in custody, and 10 years suspended.” Officials also noted that Glaze must register as a sex offender.
The 26-year-old’s sentencing comes nearly a year after he was arrested for possession of child sexual abuse material. According to the police department, officers learned of Glaze’s criminal activity in April 2024. Through their investigation, they found that Glaze had more than 700 images and videos of child sexual abuse material saved on his phone.
According to Fox23, law enforcement became aware of Glaze’s criminal activity after a mental health counselor reported that he was addicted to child sexual abuse material.
After the first kiss incident on American Idol, Glaze told the New York Times that what Perry did made him “a tad bit uncomfortable.” He told the publication that he “was raised in a conservative family” and wanted his first kiss to be “special.” If she had asked him, he would’ve said no, he said at the time.
However, he later said in a Facebook post that he was “not complaining about the kiss from Katy Perry at all,” per The Independent. At the time, he wrote, “I do not think I was sexually harassed by Katy Perry and I am thankful for the judges’ comments and critiques. I was uncomfortable in a sense of how I have never been kissed before and was not expecting it.”
