INSIDE EDITION speaks with the ex-wife of America's Got Talent contestant, Sgt. Timothy Poe about the claims he made that he was wounded in battle.
INSIDE EDITION heard exclusively from the ex-wife of Sgt. Tim Poe, the America's Got Talent singer accused of lying to the nation about being wounded in Afghanistan.
His ex-wife said he's just "living a fantasy."
Poe told viewers of America's Got Talent, "I got hit by a grenade in Afghanistan. It broke my back and gave me a brain injury. That is the reason I stutter a little bit."
But Poe's ex-wife, Kelly Ballard, told us a different story when we located her at her home in Fort Worth, Texas. She said she never heard Poe stutter before he appeared on America's Got Talent.
She told INSIDE EDITION, "I've never heard him stutter before, not saying he does or does not have problems—I've never heard him stutter like that before."
It turns out a photo viewers were shown of Sgt. Poe on patrol in Afghanistan is actually another soldier. INSIDE EDITION found the photo on the Department of Defense website, and it identifies the soldier as Army Staff Sergeant Norman Bone. Bone is beside himself that his picture is being passed off as Poe, saying, "I'm absolutely furious. I've been seeing red all day."
Sgt. Poe is sticking to his story. He stuttered through a live podcast interview with a military website as he described the grenade attack.
Poe told listeners, "I just got a concussion that knocked the crap out of me, pretty much."
Veterans who say they served with Poe in Afghanistan are calling him a liar. He was asked why no one in his unit has come forward to confirm his story.
Poe responded by saying, "I was brand-new to that unit. No one really knew me."
America's Got Talent Judge, Howard Stern, said he's withholding judgement on Poe for now. He tweeted Thursday, "Waiting to get the facts. If true, I'm disgusted."
