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"{{tmz_video_0}}Just months before ex \"&lt;strong&gt;American Idol&lt;/strong&gt;\" contestants &lt;strong&gt;Terrell&lt;/strong&gt; and &lt;strong&gt;Derrell&lt;/strong&gt; &lt;strong&gt;Brittenum&lt;/strong&gt; took legal action against the show -- over allegations of racism -- they publicly THANKED &lt;strong&gt;Nigel Lythgoe&lt;/strong&gt; for giving them their big break.&amp;#160;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;TMZ broke the story ... the twins -- along with seven other African-American former contestants -- &lt;a href=\"http://www.tmz.com/2013/01/25/american-idol-racism-lawsuit-corey-clark-disqualified-contestants-letter-discrimination/\"&gt;&lt;strong&gt;are planning to sue &lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/a&gt;... claiming \"A.I.\" unfairly targets black contestants by using information obtained by illegal criminal background checks ... in order to disqualify them from the competition and boost ratings. &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;But get this ... TMZ obtained footage of Terrell and Derrell back in September ... which tells a very different story. &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Specifically the brothers spot Nigel out in NYC -- they were all attending the same Broadway show -- and couldn't be happier with the encounter, even unleashing a massive hug session on the \"A.I.\" head honcho. &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Not only that, one brother points to Nigel and exclaims \"Mr. Nigel Lythgoe, who gave me MY start!\" &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Talk about a 180 ..."^^<http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#string>
<http://www.tmz.com/2013/01/28/american-idol-lawsuit-terrell-derrell-racism-nigel-lythgoe-big-break-video/3/>