Celebrity News June 07, 2012
'AGT' Soldier Scandal: Timothy Poe Photo a Fake
“America's Got Talent” contestant Timothy Poe is getting no sympathy right now as details emerge that he is not the soldier in the photo he submitted with his audition.
The photo is actually Staff Sgt. Norman Bone, TMZ learned exclusively, and Sgt. Bone is “seeing red.”
Bone heard about the photo being used on the show, but passed it off as a tribute to the troops. Later, he realized that Poe was using it as his own.
"First thing that came to my mind was 'Why would this lying son of a bitch do this,'” he wondered. "I'm absolutely furious. Been seeing red all day."
The photo of Bone, who has never met Poe, serving in the mountains of Parwan province in Afghanistan, was taken Oct. 25, 2006 and was featured on the U.S. Department of Defense website, where it could be easily swiped. Bone, who now serves in El Paso, Texas, is exploring his options with the Army legal department.
Poe, a singing contestant on “AGT,” claimed a 2009 grenade blast in Afghanistan left him with serious injuries including a stutter. His ex-wife and others came forward, telling the media he was never injured in combat.
