Antonella Barba was maybe the most controversial contestant in American Idol history.
And not much has changed for the former singer many years later.
According to TMZ and other outlets, the Season 6 near- finalist was arrested on Thursday morning and charged with a felony.
She is being held in jail without bond because she allegedly tried to sell over 100 grams of heroin.
Yes, heroin.
Not many other details are available at the moment, but Barba is looking at significant jail time if this really is the crime she is accused of committing and if she is found guilty.
Here is her mug shot, courtesy of the Norfolk Sheriff’s Department;
Despite finishing just outside the Top 12 on Season 6, Barba made numerous headlines in 2007 for a very different kind of scandal in which she found herself.
She gained notoriety for posing in a wet t-shirt in the fountain of the World War II Memorial in D.C. — and also for allegedly having photos taken of her while she gave someone oral sex.
Barba continued to be voted on to subsequent rounds during her run on Idol, stirring up quite a debate over whether she was earning the favor of viewers for her singing talent…
… or for these more lewd and explicit exploits.
We’ve blurred out the most private part of this photo, but here’s one of the pictures that got Barba in trouble back in the day:
She was also arrested for shoplifting in New York City in 2011.
She was charged with two misdemeanors at the time.
Still, the following year, Barba appeared on an episode of Fear Factor.
She has also acted in a number of short films since… had a small role in 2017’s All About the Money… and, earlier this year, she appeared on a “Where Are They Now?” segment on Jimmy Kimmel Live!
No one from Barba’s camp has commented on her arrest just yet.
In related news…
Fellow American Idol alum Haley Reinhart, – who also appeared on this same Jimmy Kimmel Live! segment- was arrested on one count of battery after getting into a bar fight in Chicago last year.
Reinhart was found guilty in February.
However, the judge agreed to strike the conviction from her record if she has no run-ins with the law in the next two years.
We’ll update this story with more news as it breaks.
As far as we know, Barba remains behind bars right now, pending an upcoming hearing.
Let’s hope she turns her life around.