Fantasia Barrino's life pre-American Idol may not have been a fairy tale, but according to her father, the book about her life includes some parts that are pure fiction.
The American Idol winner's dad, Joseph Barrino, sued publisher Simon & Schuster for $10 million Tuesday, alleging that the 2005 memoir Fantasia: Life Is Not a Fairytale contains "false, exaggerated, sensational, intentional and malicious untruths."
Joe Barrino, a truck driver and a musician himself, is claiming that, although his daughter is listed as the book's author, it was the singer's grandmother, pastor Addie Collins, who actually penned the story. The details that granny supposedly fudged include a description of Joe Barrino as being hostile to the music industry, a part where he asks his daughter for money, and the suggestion that his children's music careers were more important to him than their education. (Fantasia has three brothers and their parents, Joe and Diane, are still married.) . . .
"The unfortunate publication of Fantasia's life story by Simon & Schuster seeks to capitalize on her American Idol success through disparaging certain members of her family," Joe Barrino's attorney, Kendall Minter, said in a statement. "The lawsuit seeks to redress these wrongs and restore the integrity of the family members." (E! Online)
watch Fantasia explore her inner Shug Avery while singing "Pass Me Not"
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