Fantasia Barrino is your ‘American Illiterate’
October 4, 2005 
It’s that time America: Your millions of phone votes have been tallied and American Idol winner Fantasia Barrino is your new “American Illiterate!”
Fantasia Barrino Reveals She’s Illiterate:
“American Idol” winner Fantasia Barrino reveals in her memoirs that she is functionally illiterate and had to fake her way through some scripted portions the televised talent show, which she won in 2004.
“You’re illiterate to just about everything. You don’t want to misspell,” Fantasia told ABC’s “20/20.” “So that, for me, kept me in a box and I didn’t, wouldn’t come out.”
All this time I thought Americans idolized Fantasia because she was a single mom struggling to care for her son. Or at least because she managed to trick enough people into voting for her and her scratchy voice over more talented singers on the show. Boy, was I wrong:
“I think people misunderstand when they heard about the part of being illiterate,” she says. “I’m not dumb. I can read.”
She did however have trouble understanding the contracts and record deals she signed.
“I would sign the contracts but wouldn’t read over them,” she says. “It’s always important to know what you’re signing. You could be signing your life away and don’t know it.”
Wait, what? She “writes” in her book that she is illiterate, then says people misunderstand how she’s illiterate, and then says she can read afterall. Come again? Sounds like something someone illiterate would say, actually.
Gee, I hope Fantasia doesn’t read this…
October 11th, 2005 at 1:06 PM
I love it when people “get it right”. Fantasia Barrino DID NOT have the best voice during that season. I think it was the single-mom-let’s-all-feel-sorry-for-her-and-vote symdrome that won over the voters. And now to read that she’s illiterate? Unbelievable.
October 15th, 2005 at 12:42 AM
Fantasia is full of crap as you say she says shes illiterate and then all of the sudden she’s not but more importantly she tells all kinds of lies about High Point North Carolina, the town where she is from.
Not only that but in the book she reveals that she has stolen and shoplifted before shouldnt that disqualify her i mean it did for Frenchie and Corey
What a double horrible standard
Kyle
www.fantasiaslies.com
October 18th, 2005 at 5:14 PM
Fantasia is still a wonderful singer and even if she is or was illiterate she can now afford the best tutors in the US. People need to stay off Fantasia, don’t hate because she has made it big. And compared to how she is living now, High Point probably is dirty to her. By the way get your facts right,she has a daughter not a son.
October 20th, 2005 at 1:59 PM
Fantasia is a real person who makes mistakes like everyone else. It is alot of people in show business who are illiterate but are not coming out with it. She is not perfect and neither is the rest of the world. People do make mistakes and who are you to judge her, that is god’s job. And she is an american idol because it takes a real person to publish a book to the world about their life, the good and the bad. Fantasia, i love you and just know that with god, jehovah you can achieve any goal that you put your mind to.
November 4th, 2005 at 5:07 PM
I applaud Fantasia for coming forth about such an embarrassing disability that has continued for far too long, if you listen to her you would know that illiteracy is like an epidemic in her family. Maybe it is best that she hid this from America during the idol show, because from the looks of it had she told it she would have been like all the others “America’s secret idol”
January 18th, 2006 at 4:58 PM
Being illeterate has nothing to do with your singing ability. I’ve known people who grew up dirt poor and had no schooling but could sing really well. The problem with Fantasia is that she really doesn’t sing all that well and she appears to be stuck-up. I don’t like her personality or her singing and no matter what you say, I won’t listen to or buy her CD’s.
April 8th, 2006 at 3:51 AM
I never liked Fantasia from the start. The fact that she’s illiterate neither makse it better nor worse. If you thought Ruben was a mistake, what do you call Fantasia? She has one of the worst voices ever, no doubt about that. Diana has the better personality, the better voice, she was the better option, and she goes to school and doesn’t partake in pre-marital sex.
August 20th, 2006 at 1:59 AM
You stupid bitches, you can’t get mad because Fantasia made it. As you can see, she made it without stupid whores like you, obviously she didn’t need your vote, but she sure as hell got mine. So, I’m just going to speak for her when I say kiss my black ASS. Just because she made a few bad decisions in her life dosen’t make her a bad person, but she made a fine decision by trying out for American Idol. And let me tell y’all something that your mother should have told you “what don’t kill ya can only make you stronger”. She has been through enough without people like you who don’t have anything better to do but criticize her so GO TO HELL. And if she can’t read, she can PAY A MOTHERFUCKA LIKE YOU TO READ IT 4 HER. So Retard that you STUPID ASS BITCH. Questions? Contact me.
August 22nd, 2006 at 12:38 AM
jealous in the usa, you all are hipocrites ,just mad because you don’t have what she has ,she’s rich and she talentive, famous. no one in the 3 season could sing good as she could, diana personality did’nt win neither did her voice, fantasia ’s voice ,talent and looks did, so stop crying losers
February 8th, 2007 at 9:26 PM
y people dont understand that it dont matter what you are,where you came from,y you made it.If you are poor or not that smart or illiterate that dont mean that you cant be what you want be in life u still have another change to be what you do.
EVERY BODY THAT TALK ABOUT YOU CANT DO THIS AND DAT GOING SAME PEOPLE COME IN YOUR FACE WHEN YOU GET FAMOUS BETTER BELIEVE I AM SPEAK TRUTH THAT REAL