14 DAY TRIAL // You can’t say she’s not business savvy: Jennifer Lopez made about $12 million for a single season of American Idol and she’s now holding out for more. A new report says she aims to almost double the amount, come next season of the popular show.
Before the latest season of AI wrapped, Lopez had already hinted that she might not come back because she wasn’t bound by a multi-year contract and because she had too many things on her plate to be able to juggle them all successfully.
Earlier reports were already saying that she would move on from AI to her own show with husband Marc Anthony – and, indeed, an announcement for it came after the latest season of Idol ended.
Now, Jennifer is saying that she’s not yet decided whether to come back or not, but The Hollywood Reporter is convinced she’s just holding out for more money.
“Lopez’s current salary: a reported $12 million. How high could her demand ultimately go? Another $23 million, if the Simon Cowell budget is your barometer,” THR says, citing well-placed inside sources.
In other words, the singer believes she’s valuable enough for AI to twist producers’ hand into paying her what they paid Cowell after so many years on the show.
“That’s right, Idol’s top-earning judge for eight years running commanded $35 million per season at the end of his tenure, or about $642,201 per hour, using season 9’s total airtime,” THR notes.
Still, the publication doubts that Lopez could actually be worth all this money: after all, even Cowell turned out to be replaceable, even though many believed the show would run into the ground without him.
As for Jennifer, she says she’s happy she’s not forced to make a decision right now.
“I had an amazing time doing it and I loved it but I have a lot other things happening, and it’s going to come down to me making a choice of what I want to do for the next year and we’re not really at the breaking point of ‘You have to make a decision right now!’” she said in a recent interview with BBC Radio.
“I’m just really enjoying the time of just waiting and seeing,” she added.
Gossip pundits note that “waiting and seeing” is most likely a codename for “show me the money,” as Jerry Maguire so wonderfully put it.