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Former American Idol winner Samantha Diaz - stage name, Just Sam - took to Instagram on Friday, August 26, to give fans an update about her hospitalization. In a series of cryptic Instagram stories, the singer revealed that she was grateful for the prayers and said that she was "doing much better now."
The 23-year-old also posted an image of a weighing scale and wrote that she needed serious help:
“100 lbs is crazyyy … I seriously need help.”
The reason behind the former contestant’s sudden hospitalization remains unknown.
Just Sam’s recent social media activity explored
According to Heavy, the singer first revealed that she was hospitalized on Wednesday, August 24. On her Instagram stories, she wrote:
“Thank you to everyone that checked on me. I am ALIVE and out of the hospital.”
In her recent Insta stories on Friday, the singer thanked her fans for their support and said that her health had improved.
As per Heavy, in another cryptic social media post, Diaz said:
“Guys, look at what my baby got me. Awwww! After such a horrible day, oh my gosh!”
She also posted a video of her in a facemask, and wrote that she needed a "better hospital" because she hated the current one.
American Idol winner had to pay off record label to buy back her own music
Samantha Diaz, aka Just Sam, participated in the 18th season of American Idol. The Harlem-native shocked contestants during her Washington DC audition where she sang Rise Up by Andra Day. In the finale of the show, Diaz sang Stronger by Kelly Clarkson and a second round of Rise Up.
The contestant went on to receive more votes than fellow competitor Arthur Gunn, making her the American Idol.
While one might expect the musician to be bagging record label deals after showcasing her ground-breaking voice, Just Sam stated earlier this year that that was not the case.
The former winner revealed that after winning Idol in May 2020, she went on to sign a deal with Hollywood Records. However, she had to pay the label to claim the music she had already recorded.
In an Instagram story uploaded earlier this year, Samantha Diaz revealed:
“I thought it was gonna be easy. Just go to the studio, record, put out music, and that’s not how the world works. That’s not how the industry works. It takes times, it takes money that I don’t have. It takes patience.”
In another social media post, she told followers:
“I’m not even going to tell you guys the amount of money that I had to pay that I had to pay after leaving the label to claim songs that I already recorded. And I invested in myself and ended up broke. That’s the truth.”
Diaz went on to share that American Idol did not help her pay her bills by any means.
However, the singer added that she continues to make music but “just can afford to release music,” as mixing and mastering her tracks is an expensive task.
