'American Idol' contestant lied about military injury: Matt Farmer confesses

An “American Idol” contestant, whose talent stood out among his peers this week, is lying about a military injury. The 26-year-old captured the hearts of the audience when he told an horrific story on “American Idol,” but according to Yahoo Music on Friday, Feb. 1, 2013, his story was a lie.

Matt Farmer said he had a brain injury after he was hit when a roadside bomb, or an IED, when it blew up while he was serving in the military in Iraq. He also shared that the injury was supposed to have left him sterile, but he was able to father a child, which was something he never thought could happen. He explained this as he introduced his 3-year-old daughter, who he called his “miracle baby.”

Guardian of Valor investigated Farmer’s claims and found them to be false. The Guardian of Valor website investigates people making false claims about being a war hero or getting hurt while being in the military. They do this because it is not fair to the military members who really did get injured while serving their country.

After interviewing many soldiers that served with Farmer in Iraq, the website was able to find out what really happened to Farmer while oversees with his fellow military members. He was sent home from Iraq after he almost killed himself taking unauthorized acne medication and drinking unauthorized alcohol.

These substances caused Farmer to suffer seizures. As far as being deemed sterile, that part is true, but it was from the unauthorized medication he consumed while in Iraq, according to one of his former military members.

Farmer contacted Guardian of Valor and responded to the allegations saying that the interview he did with the “Idol” producers was edited out of context. The website dug a little deeper and found audio of Farmer telling a lie at a church service. This time he told the story of being a sniper in Iraq.

This was when Farmer apparently realized that he couldn’t beat the facts and confessed to lying about his time in Iraq. He also conveyed that he has had a problem with lying since he was young. Farmer said he was “extremely remorseful" for what he had said. He even went as far as saying that he lied so much, that he started to believe his own lies. He added, “the lies stop here.”

More than likely they are going to have to stop because now that the Guardian of Valor has his number, he probably won’t get away with a fake war story ever again.