9 Black American Idol Ex-Contestants plan to sue the show for Racism

Nine black, former "American Idol" contestants have reportedly accused the Fox series of racism and are planning to sue.

TMZ obtained a letter submitted to the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission by New York attorney James Freeman, requesting permission to sue Fox and the show on behalf of his nine clients. In the letter, Freeman claims there is a racism pattern in the ''Idol'' disqualification process.

Freeman alleges that only nine "Idol" contestants had been publicly disqualified since the show debuted in 2002, and all happened to be black. He claims the show enacted a "cruel and inhumane" scheme, which included background checks and arrest inquiries, to humiliate the contestants on live TV and perpetuate "destructive stereotypes" that made his clients appear to be "violent criminals, liars and sexual deviants.