Former American Idol contestant Benjamin Glaze sentenced to 25 years for child pornography

Benjamin Glaze, 26, a former American Idol contestant, was sentenced to 25 years in prison after pleading guilty to aggravated possession of child sexual abuse material, Tulsa police said. Prosecutors said investigators found more than 700 photos and videos depicting minors on his phone. Glaze was arrested in October after authorities made the discovery and later released from Tulsa County Jail on a $50,000 bond, TMZ reported.

Glaze pleaded guilty to aggravated possession of child sexual abuse material and was sentenced to 25 years on September 15, according to Tulsa Police.

The case traces back to Glaze’s heightened visibility from American Idol in 2016, when he went viral after Katy Perry, one of the show’s judges, kissed him during his audition. Glaze was 20 at the time and later said he had never been in a relationship, which contributed to a public and controversial moment that overshadowed his audition. He did not advance to Hollywood Week. Perry, a multiple Grammy-nominated artist, faced criticism for the moment, though her fellow judge at the time, Luke Bryan, defended her actions and said the panel’s critiques often stir public reaction.

In a series of 2016 posts, Glaze defended Perry, writing on Instagram that he did not feel he was harassed and that he was simply uncomfortable because he had not expected a kiss. He said his goal was to pursue music and connect with fans without creating strife. In interviews years later, Glaze described feeling uneasy about the kiss and said he would have declined a kiss if Perry had asked him beforehand, noting he was raised in a conservative family and wanted his first kiss to be meaningful.

Bryan publicly supported Perry at the time, saying the incident underscored the unpredictability of live television and that the judges could be criticized for moments that, in hindsight, became major stories. The sentencing brings finality to a case that intertwined a pop-culture moment from a talent show with a separate criminal investigation, underscoring the sustained consequences of online content and the evolving landscape of accountability.