Who doesn’t remember Just Sam? That moment, when she dropped her tablet after hearing the news of winning American Idol in 2020, is memorable for many. That said, the last month’s Instagram videos shared by Samantha Diaz aka Just Sam in which she is seen singing in New York subways became viral baffling many fans.
Most probably because Sam has a history of performing in subways which have led people to wonder what might have propelled the singer to revert to her old ways. Sam finally broke her silence on the subject, explaining her situation in the now deleted caption on May 1 when she told The Sun:
“Back in 2021, I was super embarrassed to be going back to the trains. I didn’t want people to know that I legit needed the money. I didn’t want people to know that it wasn’t optional. I was disappointed in myself for allowing myself to fall so low after winning Idol, but then I had to take it easy on me and remember that I started my journey with Idol at 20 years old. I was disappointed in myself for allowing myself to fall so low after winning Idol, but then I had to take it easy on me and remember that I started my journey with Idol at 20 years old. Not even knowing anything about Hollywood or the music industry. Since then, I have learned so much and I’ve been able to take my experiences and share them with other artists in hopes that they don’t experience the same things that I did when it comes to making it in this life.”
Even though the exact reason remains uncertain, Sam mentioned the ongoing pandemic as a major cause of making such a decision. Talking to the outlet, she said how at the time of her winning, COVID was rampant, and because of this she became uncertain of her future, which probably drove her to make this move.
However, nothing has been confirmed by Sam yet but she assured the outlet that someday she will reveal in detail the real reason behind this as well as expressed disappointment at having “let everyone down.”
Nevertheless, she did open up to Just Jared about her financial hardships which created major challenges for her to release music, unlike the show’s previous winners. Mainly because she made the hasty decision of not working with the label with which she forged a contract after winning leading her to owe a great deal of money to the company.
Notwithstanding the mountains of challenges, the singer doesn’t seem to harbor any regrets about it as she claims to display her talents to the world by making her own music.