Current American Idol contestant Caleb Johnson (yes, the show is still on TV) has learned about fame the hard way after having to apologize to his fans for calling them "retards."

In a red carpet interview, Johnson said the following about social media:

"It gives access to a bunch of retards to talk to me, and I don't really enjoy having to see somebody telling me what song I need to sing. I think at this point in the competition I can pick and choose my own songs and represent me. I don't need 10,000 people telling me 'you should sing this, you should sing that, listen to me.' Fortunately, guys, I'm going to listen to myself, whether you like it or not."

He later apologized for that remark on Facebook, though it appears that he might not have exactly understood why people were mad at him in the first place.

For the record that juvenile comment I made in the interview was not directed towards my fans but to the wackos that send hundreds of hate messages a day to me ! You guys are amazing and I cannot thank you enough for your support. Sorry if it offended anybody it was the wrong choice of words . Also I greatly appreciate it when you guys give me song suggestions but it gets really overwhelming at the volume it comes in so please understand ! Rock on !:)

In any event, as Johnson's career progresses—he's one of the strongest contestants on this season of Idol, which, again, is a show that still exists—he'll quickly learn that there is a very, very thin line between "fans" and "wackos."

As for the song he sang last week, it was Whitesnake's "In the Still of the Night." So definitely don't flood Caleb Johnson with better suggestions.

[image via Getty]