Sep 15, 2010 06:55 GMT  ·  By
Jennifer Lopez reportedly lands deal for American Idol judge: $12 million for one season
   Jennifer Lopez reportedly lands deal for American Idol judge: $12 million for one season

Despite reports saying negotiations with Jennifer Lopez for Simon Cowell’s spot as judge on American Idol had gone sour, the deal has just been finalized – and the singer gets no less than $12 million on a one-year contract.

Deadline has learned that after negotiations came to a sudden halt because of the impossible diva demands Lopez made, all parties agreed to give it another try.

Thus, they came up to an understanding that is profitable both for producers of the show and the singer herself, who will get a $12 million paycheck for just one year as judge on the show.

Even if this may sound like an impressive deal – it’s certainly so, regardless of how one looks at it – insiders say the singer wanted considerably much more to appear on AI.

More specifically, Lopez asked for a movie deal to be included with her AI contract, because she wanted to keep her acting career going.

Fox and Freemantle Media, the two powers that be behind American Idol, saw this “vanity deal” as pointless, especially since it’s clear that Lopez’s movie career is never happening the way she wants it to.

The singer also wanted more money for the same time interval, about $3 million more, a thing to which producers wouldn’t consent since it would have put her on par with Ryan Seacrest, who got $45 million on a 3-year contract.

“She was angling for an overall deal at Fox, including a put picture, to keep the movie career going. But Fox said no. In the old days, these were called a ‘vanity deal’ for good reason. They simply don’t exist today. Will Smith doesn’t have put pictures,” an insider reveals for Deadline.

“Another informant says she also was angling for TV development projects to replace the ones that had gone by the wayside when her career grew cold,” the e-zine further says.

In the end, Jennifer Lopez got only $12 million for one year, an offer she couldn’t possibly refuse because she needs the money if she wants to keep living her fabulous life, the same tipster shares.

As for whether Jennifer Lopez is worth all this money, E! Online says only time can prove that but she does seem to have what it takes to make it work for her.

“While Steven Tyler also is locked in, it’s unclear if this year’s panel will be three- or four-strong. As far as Fox’s publicity department is concerned, right now it’s just Randy Jackson and his dawg pound flying the flag for pitchiness all on his own,” E! further says.

“But they better put a statement together and quick. The next audition round, presumably with the locked-in judges panel, is scheduled to begin filming in just two weeks’ time,” the same publication points out.