People: Clay Aiken's upsetting junior high school days come to light on Tuesday's Dr. Phil show, with the multiplatinum-selling singer opening up to Dr. Phil McGraw. "He talks about his own experiences being bullied," a publicist for Aiken's label, RCA Records, tells the Associated Press. The rep, Roger Widynowski, adds that the future American Idol star was bullied "verbally ... throughout his whole school career. Mostly through elementary and junior high." Aiken's mother, Faye Parker, confirms that her son was picked on, though to what extent was a mystery to her. "I don't know that he was bullied so much as he was just ignored," she said. "So I don't know. We'll have to hear more about his story when he tells it on TV" (Stephen Silverman Apr 2005) (Clay Aiken to Dr. Phil: I Was Bullied).
Clayton Holmes "Clay" Aiken (né Grissom; born November 30, 1978) is an American singer, songwriter, actor, producer, and author who began his rise to fame on the second season of the television program American Idol in 2003. RCA Records offered him a recording contract, and his multi-platinum debut album Measure of a Man was released in October 2003. He released four more albums on the RCA label: Merry Christmas with Love (2004), A Thousand Different Ways (2006), and the Christmas EP, All is Well (2006).[2][3] His fourth studio album (the first album of original material since 2003's Measure of a Man), On My Way Here was released on May 6, 2008 (Wikipedia: Clay Aiken).
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