Is American Idol Guilty???

Goodspeed photo courtesy Getty Images

Everyone knows it's the judges' MO on American Idol, to make fun of the contestants in their open audition cattle calls that they start out with each season. It's sometimes funny (mostly boring and unwatchable, in my opinion), but is it too cruel?

Poor Paula Goodspeed believed in herself and believed AI could make her famous but is it fair or ethical to trick sometimes naive souls into making fools of themselves on national television?

William Hung turned his comedic audition into a real career by embracing the comedy of his act (though one still wonders still if he grasps the real reason he's found fame), but Paula Goodspeed, who committed suicide in front of Idol judge Paula Abdul's house on Wednesday, apparently suffered greatly after what she must have felt was public humiliation, broadcast to the entire country.

Simon Cowell, AI judge and the show's creator, mocked Goodspeed's braces during her audition, saying, "I don't think any artist on earth could sing with that much metal in her mouth." Goodspeed later blogged about the cruelty on her MySpace page, saying it was difficult to deal with the "haters" who made fun of her.

So do YOU think American Idol is guilty at all for pushing Goodspeed over the edge? Is the show TOO cruel?