American Idol judge Randy Jackson has distanced himself from a series of online messages which allegedly asked the public to help with his Grammy Awards ballot - blaming an assistant for the controversial posts.
Followers of Jackson's Twitter.com page were stunned this week (04Jan10) when a series of messages appeared, asking fans to help him pick the winners at the upcoming awards ceremony later this month (31Jan10).
The page was inundated with suggestions, but the actions sparked an industry outcry as Grammy organisers insist participants in the voting process keep their decisions secret and never allow their choices to be swayed by others.
And now a representative for Jackson has come forward, telling the Los Angeles Times that the messages were posted by an assistant without the music mogul's knowledge.
All posts mentioning the Grammy Awards have now been removed from Jackson's Twitter.com page.