The Most Controversial Moments In Masked Singer History

The following article includes mentions of anti-Semitism and suicide.

A reality show about disguised celebrities singing, dancing, and dropping clues about their real selves shouldn't be contentious — right? Actually, "The Masked Singer" has had its fair share of controversies since it hit American television on Fox in 2019. But before exploring that deeper, here's a little background on the show for those who may not be familiar with it. 

"The Masked Singer" was first a Korean show titled "King of Masked Singer." In the American version, judges Jenny McCarthy-Wahlberg, Robin Thicke, Ken Jeong, and Nicole Scherzinger try to guess who is who under each mask, with Nick Cannon as the host helping deliver clues from each contestant. The Season 10 finale aired in December 2023, and Season 11 is heading to Fox in 2024. Rita Ora replaced Scherzinger for filming that new season during Scherzinger's run on the West End (via Billboard). 

To stay anonymous, the celebrities competing on the show wear colorful, full-body costumes of some kind of animal, mythical creature, food item, or inanimate object. Many big names have been unmasked on the show, such as Wayne Brady, Donny Osmond, and T-Pain. However, some contestants have been vocal about some of the show's downsides. For example, although she said she enjoyed herself, Christie Brinkley's lemur costume was incredibly painful and difficult to wear when performing. The show has also been met with criticism based on certain contestants or situations. Let's take a look at these controversial moments.

One of the most shocking reveals in "The Masked Singer" history was Sarah Palin in Season 3. The Republican and former governor of Alaska ran for vice president alongside presidential candidate John McCain in the 2008 election. When she was revealed as the contestant in the tie-dye bear costume, the judges panel was shocked (via YouTube). Some viewers were unhappy to see Palin on the show due to her political affiliation (she supported Donald Trump before the 2016 election). However, when discussing the clip of her reveal, some commenters didn't mind her appearance, even if they disagreed with her politically. 

The most shocking part of Palin's reveal was the timing. According to Buzzfeed News, the episode where Palin was unmasked aired on March 11, 2020 — the same day COVID-19 fears became a reality. Just as her unmasked, prerecorded encore performance ended, Fox switched to former president Donald Trump's live speech from the White House discussing the pandemic.

Palin seemed to enjoy her time on the singing competition show, telling Nick Cannon during the aftershow, "It was so positive. It was so encouraging. I just absolutely loved it. I just feel really blessed that you guys even asked me if I want to do it" (via Entertainment Weekly). However, during Palin's defamation lawsuit against the New York Times, her "Masked Singer" appearance came back to haunt her when she asked the judge not to let the defendants use the show's clips as exhibits.

Nick Cannon has hosted "The Masked Singer" since Season 1 — except when he had COVID-19 and needed Niecy Nash as a replacement host. Cannon also sparked controversy when, in 2020, he made anti-Semitic comments and promoted conspiracy theories on his podcast "Cannon's Class" alongside guest Richard Griffin (also known as Professor Griff). 

Cannon shared an apology thread on X, formerly known as Twitter, and said, "[My comments] reinforced the worst stereotypes of a proud and magnificent people and I feel ashamed of the uninformed and naïve place that these words came from." He said that he was working to learn from his mistakes and was "committed to deeper connections, more profound learning, and strengthening the bond between our two cultures today and every day going forward."

ViacomCBS fired Cannon after his comments, but Fox kept him as "The Masked Singer" host. In a statement, Fox said the host "is clear and remorseful that his words were wrong and lacked both understanding and context, and inadvertently promoted hate" (via Variety). Since Cannon was working to learn from his mistakes, the network said they would "move forward with Nick and help him advance this important conversation, broadly. Fox condemns all forms of hate directed toward any community and we will combat bigotry of any kind." 

In 2021, Cannon was also rehired by ViacomCBS to continue creating his show "Wild 'N Out" (via USA Today).

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Some of the controversial contestants that have graced "The Masked Singer" stage aren't politicians. The Season 5 reveal of Grandpa Monster had fans seeing red because the celebrity under the mask — YouTuber Logan Paul — has done a lot of distasteful things throughout his career. Most notably, he filmed and posted a vlog at the Aokigahara Forest in Japan, which is a "suicide forest." Logan included footage of a corpse in a vlog uploaded on New Year's Eve 2017, causing outrage.

According to E! News, Logan removed the video from YouTube and attempted to make amends with apologies and donations. Still, that is only one of his many problematic behaviors from the past. 

Logan's reveal on the show didn't garner outrage from the judges. Nicole Scherzinger listed her reasons for thinking Logan's brother Jake Paul (also a YouTuber, also controversial) was Grandpa Monster — "With the troublemaking, and acting out, and the bad reputation, and all that fun" (via YouTube). Although many of Logan's previous behaviors were far from "fun," Logan swore he was "reformed" at his unmasking. The song from his final episode referenced his public image — "Bad Reputation." 

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One major controversy on "The Masked Singer" happened in Season 7. According to Deadline, while filming the season premiere, Rudy Giuliani — former attorney for former president Donald Trump — was unmasked. After the reveal of the contentious contestant, Jeong and Robin Thicke walked offstage. People spoke with an insider who reported that Jeong was the only one protesting Giuliani by leaving. "Ken was super upset and indeed stormed out. Robin actually followed him because he and Ken are very close friends and he wanted to check on him. Robin didn't storm out because of Giuliani," they said.

A second source told People how the comedian "was livid" and that he left because "there's no way he could hide his feelings." They added how Jeong strongly disagreed with a lot of what the Trump administration did. "To get someone who helped to spread misinformation and call into question the accuracy of our election and democracy to appear on his show was going to set him off," they said.

When the episode featuring Giuliani actually aired, it was revealed that his masked character was the Jack-in-the-Box. He sang "Bad to the Bone." A video uploaded to Entertainment Tonight's YouTube channel showed footage of Jeong saying, "I'm done," and leaving during Giuliani's encore. It also showed Giuliani's explanation for why he did the show — to inspire his young granddaughter to "try everything." 

Although there is no confirmation of this, there have been rumors of scandal behind the scenes at "The Masked Singer." One Redditor shared a post speculating that judge Jenny McCarthy-Wahlberg's guesses of who's under the mask had gotten too good. They used Barry Zito (the Rhino) as an example, shocked that McCarthy-Wahlberg guessed his identity not off baseball hints, but because his wife was crowned Miss Missouri. "Even if she figured it out from the baseball clues (which she didn't mention) I'd have to believe she knows facts on a pitcher who peaked 10 years ago," the Redditor added. "JENNY MCCARTHY IS CHEATING." They didn't accuse Ken Jeong of the same, who guessed Zito based on a hint on the show "J.A.G." (via Woman's Day).

Before the Season 9 finale of "The Masked Singer," speculation flew that the show was rigged. Another Redditor shared a screenshot of a YouTube comment posted by someone named Exposure Squad, claiming to have worked on the show. They shared the identities of Season 9 competitors Medusa and Macaw — Bishop Briggs and David Archuleta — and said the former "was contracted to perform the most" from the beginning, securing the first-place win.

The identities were correct, and so were who would end up getting first place and who would get second. Some agreed that the show's results were probably rigged. However, not everyone was convinced and believed it could've been a hater trying to stir up drama.