NEW YORK CITY, NEW YORK: Samantha 'Just Sam' Diaz, a former American Idol winner who won a $250,000 cash award and a recording deal from Hollywood Records in 2020, is once again busking on the subway. Despite winning on ABC's popular singing competition series the non-binary 24-year-old Harlem native who uses the pronouns "they/them" is having financial difficulties.
Although they were first "super embarrassed" to reveal that they were returning to entertaining New York City subway riders, the singer stated it was no longer "optional" to let people know that they "legit needed the money".
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Nevertheless, they have found it challenging to deal with the fact that they have "fallen so low" since being famous thanks to American idol. Just Sam's challenges include a stay in the hospital last summer to treat an unidentified ailment.
'I promise that I will say more soon very soon'
"There is so much more they want to say, but there isn't much they are "allowed to say," they said on their Instagram Story on Tuesday. They continued, "I promise that I will say more soon very soon. For now, I will just say thank you so much to everyone who has my back."
The artist abruptly departed the recording company last year without putting out any records with them. The singer uploaded a story that stated, "I am making music. I just cannot afford to release music, because mixing and mastering music costs a lot of money. And I invested in myself and ended up broke. That's the truth."
'Katy Perry's not going to pay my bills'
The musician added,'' It's just hard because I'm coming out of pocket and I have bills to pay. And American Idol is not going to pay my bills. Lionel Richie's not going to pay my bills. Katy Perry's not going to pay my bills. Luke Bryan is not going to pay my bills. I have to pay my rent. I have to make sure that I'm eating every day, which is hard to do."
Sam continued by assuring the audience that they had individuals "helping" them and that they would release songs "when" they could and "were ready". The peak of the worldwide coronavirus epidemic coincided with their victory during the American Idol finale which was remotely taped.
