'American Idol's' Most Wanted

What do "American Idol" contestant Corey Clark and warcorrespondent Peter Arnett have in common?

Both got whacked by their networks yesterday.

Fox yanked Clark after learning from Web site the Smoking Gun thathe is due in court this month for allegedly assaulting his teenagesister and then resisting arrest.

In case you're keeping score, three of the 32 finalists on thelatest edition of "American Idol" have had run-ins with the law, andone was dumped for her Internet porn past.

"Due to events that have recently come to light," the network saidlate yesterday in a statement, " 'American Idol' participant CoreyClark has been removed from the contest."

All participants on "American Idol" are required to provideinformation to assist in background checks, including disclosure ofany arrests. "Corey withheld information about a prior arrest which,had it been known, might have affected his participation in theshow," Fox said, adding that "the producers and network feel thatCorey's behavior warrants his disqualification."

The network has no plans to replace Clark with another contestantand said that "at this time, no decision has been made as to how thiswill impact this week's shows."

On the "American Idol" Web site (www.idolonfox.com), 22-year-oldClark reveals that his most embarrassing moment ever came when he wasperforming with his pop group at a school "and I called a girl out ofthe audience and when she got down to the stage I didn't know what todo."

He must've blocked out that time on Dec. 4 when he was chargedwith three misdemeanors, including the battery and criminal restraintof his 15-year-old sister.

Clark, who was one of nine "Idol" finalists, was arrested lastOctober when neighbors of his family in Topeka, Kan., called thepolice after they heard screaming from the Clark house.

When the cops arrived, they interviewed Clark and his sister;Clark's interview must not have gone well because he was arrested,booked into the Shawnee County jail and charged with battery, notonly on his sister but also on four law enforcement officers.According to the Smoking Gun, he spent three days in the slammer. Hewas released on bond, on condition that he stay away from his sister.

That probably leaves you wondering why his mom, when looking backon the semifinal round, said she was stunned that Corey had gottenfractured the night before his big "American Idol" audition, which hetotally blew. "I couldn't believe it; I was just sitting there going,'No, you didn't,' " Corey's mom said during one of those touchy-feely bios we have come to know and dread on the show.

In December, right after making the cut on "Idol," Clark wasarraigned in Kansas District Court on three misdemeanor charges:resisting arrest, battery of his sister and criminal restraint.

Next Tuesday was going to be a tough day for Clark. Not only washe scheduled to perform live on "American Idol" that night, but healso was scheduled to appear in court in Topeka on those threecharges.

And you can just imagine how tight his schedule was going tobecome if he was convicted of the charges and won the singingcompetition. Kelly Clarkson, winner of the first go-round on"American Idol," reports hardly having a moment to call her own; ifconvicted, Clark faces a maximum of a year in jail on the first twocharges and six months max on the third.

Bet "American Idol" judge Simon Cowell is now wishing he hadn'tcommended Clark for his "wild side" on the March 11 show: "What Ilove about you, Corey, is that you do have this wild side to you. Ifind that, in a way, more honest than some of the other people inthis competition, because to be a pop star you've got to have aslightly wild side."

Bet the principal of Ingraham Elementary School in San Bernardino,Calif., wishes she hadn't let producers bring Clark to her school forthat treacly bio on the singer, in which her students were seencheering and chanting, "Corey! "Corey!" and he helped her pass outFebruary's Caught Being Good and Principal's awards.

A Fox source says the network didn't catch Clark's assault chargesduring its background check because his first name was misspelled bypolice in their report, as "Cory."

Nonetheless, the Smoking Gun reports that it found the assaultcase within 45 minutes of receiving a tip that Clark had beeninvolved in passing some bad checks.

That's right, three years ago Wal-Mart sued Clark for allegedlywriting more than $600 in bad checks, according to documents obtainedby the Web site. According to the Smoking Gun, he made good on themoney two years after the company filed its lawsuit.

Clark joins a growing group of finalists who have been dumped --or not -- from the "American Idol" competition.

Five days ago, the Smoking Gun revealed that Trenyce, akaLashundra Cobbins, was busted in October 1999 on a felony theftcharge in Tennessee. She was put in a pretrial diversion program andher record was later expunged. Fox called the issue "a minor matter"and did not dump the contestant, who is a fave of judges Paula Abdul,Randy Jackson and Cowell.

On the show's Web site, Trenyce is asked what is her mostembarrassing moment ever. "I don't have one that I can think of" isthe reply.

Fox really needs to stop asking its "American Idol" contestantsthat question.

Fox did, however, give the old heave-ho to contestant FrenchieDavis when word got out that she had broken no law by posing, whenshe was older than 18, for a Web site that caters to kiddie-pornfantasies.

And Fox kicked Jaered Andrews out of the race after discoveringhe'd been involved in a brawl while celebrating his selection as an"American Idol" semifinalist; the fight led to the death of a barpatron.

"Unfortunately, the search process is not perfect," Fox saidyesterday after learning of Clark's arrest. "We regret the error, butthe only thing we can do is learn from the incident, continue toimprove the background check process, and move on."

Oh, yeah -- and Peter Arnett was sacked yesterday by NBC, MSNBCand National Geographic for the interview he gave to state-controlled Iraqi TV in which he cited what he called failures of theU.S. war strategy.