14 DAY TRIAL // Only a couple of days before Christmas, rumor emerged and was near-confirmed that Simon Cowell, the most inflexible and outspoken judge on the panel of American Idol, was preparing for his last season of the show. The report came from none other than Cowell’s own brother, but Randy Jackson, also an AI judge, is now denying that talk of his departure has any foundation.
Paparazzi for TMZ caught up with Jackson the other day and, obviously, since reports that this will be Cowell’s last season are picking up pace, they also asked him what he made of them and whether he had any comment that he’d like on the record. Strangely enough, Mr. Jackson seemed to be taken completely by surprise by the question on Cowell’s departure, which prompted him to urge the paps and AI fans not to believe everything they hear or read in the media.
“American Idol already lost one of its original judges before the season – but according to Randy Jackson, they’re not about to lose another... despite rumors that Simon Cowell is looking for a way out. Last night at Katsuya, we asked Randy about Cowell’s alleged departure – and he told us ‘Who said that? Don’t believe everything you read or hear dawg, that’s all I can tell ya’,” TMZ writes of the brief encounter and Q&A with Randy Jackson.
Still, despite this denial, rumors of Cowell’s departure continue to gain momentum, especially since both judges and host Ryan Seacrest acted the same way when Paula Abdul left the show last year, that is, denying the departure until the very last moment. Moreover, the music mogul is reportedly set to start working on bringing the successful British show X Factor to the US, for which reason he needs more spare time than American Idol allows him to have.
“Meanwhile, Simon prepares for a new season of Idol – or should I say, his last season of Idol. OK, I will. Because it is. As I sit here with my family in the sunny Caribbean, a press statement is being prepared, which will confirm what everyone expected: Simon will leave Idol at the end of 2010 to concentrate on bringing the American version of X Factor to US TV in 2011,” Tony Cowell, Simon’s brother, said in a radio show in December, as we also informed you at the time.