September 17 served up a lot of talent on the stage of this America’s Got Talent Season 19 finale. However, all that glam and glitz got sidetracked by a “shameful” omission that fans of the reality TV program vehemently disapproved of.
Emily Gold, a Los Osos High School dancer and America’s Got Talent contestant, had pleasantly surprised the nation with her performance alongside her high school dance team. Not only did the Southern California teenager’s crew make it through auditions, but it also climbed the ranks and landed a spot in the quarterfinals before its August elimination.
Despite the splash Gold and her troupe made on the national platform, there was no way of knowing what she was going through. On Friday, September 13, the 17-year-old student-dancer was found dead under an overpass in California, the San Bernardino Coroner’s Office eventually confirmed to PEOPLE. So far, her death has been attributed to apparent suicide.
In an official statement, California Highway Patrol Public Information Officer Rodrigo Jimenez said that “officers from the California Highway Patrol Rancho Cucamonga area responded to a pedestrian down in lanes.”
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“When the officers arrived, they located a female, 17-year-old, who was struck by at least one other vehicle in the carpool lane on eastbound 210. The female did succumb to her injuries and was pronounced deceased at the scene.”
Shortly after that, people close to Gold’s family organised a GoFundMe campaign, which read, “With great sadness we share our Los Osos Grizzly Emily Gold has passed away. “As a community lets come together and support the Gold family in this difficult time. Please know this money will go directly to the family to support them and help with expenses.”
A blink-and-you-miss-it message shared on social media
The AGT finale aired this Tuesday, just days after Gold’s unfortunate and untimely passing. However, the show failed to respectfully honour the teen contestant’s memory or even barely address the issue on TV. Although the official AGT SNS pages shared a post dedicated to the young girl, it could easily get lost in the long trail of other flashy posts overshadowing both up and down the page’s feed, especially if scrolling on a phone.
“The AGT Family sends out our heartfelt condolences to the family, friends and team members of Emily Gold. She was a bright young soul and will be deeply missed,” the read the post shared alongside a snap of the teenager posing in front of the America’s Got Talent wall.
How some viewers reacted to an omission of Emily Gold’s mention on TV during the America’s Got Talent finale
Some viewers were extremely hurt by the show creators’ grave indifference. A few of them took to social media to voice their disappointment as the show didn’t utter a word about Gold’s passing on TV despite her team’s previous performance, which earned a standing ovation from Simon Cowell.
“Really no “rest in peace” for Emily Gold?”
“Didn’t need a segment but not a Tribute image we see at the end of other shows when they lost people? Their social media did acknowledge it, but y’all put on so many stories but the moment a tragedy happens y’all stay silent on TV? #AGT,” a viewer fumed on X, formerly Twitter.
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The tirade continued in follow-up tweets: “Like sorry to go on a whole rant about this, but this show doesn’t shy away from talking about shit. The moment a suicide happens, there’s no acknowledgement about it?”
“Y’all acknowledged Nightbirde on the show when she died from cancer, but can’t do the same for Emily Gold? #AGT The only reason I knew is because all my local stations talked about it on their social media pages.
“The least this show could do was an image at the end like other shows we’ve seen do that when someone passes. Y’all are mental health till it’s inconvenient for you. #AGT”
A second fan of the show posted a recording of the AGT finale’s last moments and said, “This was the end of @AGT @AGTAuditions and the show didn’t even pay tribute to Emily Gold. Shame on you, @AGT @AGTAuditions.”
The user also commented: “Shame on them for not addressing this. She appeared on the show in August. They could have at least did a tribute card to her.”
