People have been trying to poke holes in Kris Allen’s American Idol win since the big finale last week – but The New York Times may be on to something.

News now that AT&T, one of American Idol’s corporate sponsors, provided phones for free text-messaging services as well as lessons for casting blocks of votes at two Arkansas final performance night fan parties – has many calling foul.

This would appear to have swung the vote in Kris Allen’s favor, as no similar free texting or block voting lessons were provided at Adam Lambert fan parties. Was American Idol rigged this year? Did Kris Allen have an unfair advantage?

While Fox hasn’t yet commented, AT&T issued a statement yesterday that read, “In Arkansas, we were invited to attend the local watch parties organized by the community. A few local employees brought a small number of demo phones with them and provided texting tutorials to those who were interested.”