| | |  | Simon Cowell News & Gossip
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| | Simon Cowell not sure he?ll stay on AI; Paula wants double salary | | Added 16 years ago | Source: CeleBitchy |
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Paula Abdul was telling anyone who would listen that she warned American Idol producers not to let her now-deceased stalker, Paula Goodspeed, on the show. A producer denied that claim, and said that he didn’t remember Paula telling him Goodspeed was a stalker. He also made it clear that Paula really shouldn’t have continued to talk about the incident a few weeks after Goodspeed committed suicide in her car outside Paula’s house. The press was reassured that Paula’s position on the show wasn’t in jeopardy and that she would continue to have a place on the judge’s panel.
MSNBC’s The Scoop reports that while Idol has been giving assurances that Paula will remain on the show, head judge Simon Cowell’s fate is not as certain. The acerbic Brit says he’ll decide next year whether he’ll stay on Idol and that he’s uncertain due to a busy schedule and a lot of other commitments.
When ?American Idol? executive producer Ken Warwick held a conference call with the press earlier in the week, he spent much of it reiterating that he wanted Paula Abdul to stay on the show.
Turns out that reporters on the call really should have been asking not about Abdul, but about Simon Cowell.
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?I’ll make a decision about (whether to stay with the show) next year,” Cowell said Dec. 17 in his own call with reporters. His inclination to make a call about staying with the show doesn?t come from personality conflict as much as it does workload, however. “This show could continue for another 10 years,? he conceded.
[From MNBC's The Scoop]
Meanwhile The National Enquirer reports that Paula Abdul is pressing Idol to double her salary under threats that she won’t stick around beyond this season. They’re said to be willing to accommodate her salary increase. She earns around $5 to $7 million a year and is said to want $10 million. If Simon steps down they’ll have the budget for it since he earns three times that, according to the Enquirer. It’s an insane amount of money, but AI is the most watched show on television and they probably want to keep their celebrity judges happy.
Simon Cowell, Kara DioGuardi, Paula Abdul and Randy Jacksonare shown introducing New Fourth Judge Kara DioGuardi at American Idol NYC Tryouts on 8/26/08. Credit:
PRPhotos
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| | Paula Abdul told by Idol producers to stop talking about stalker | | Added 16 years ago | Source: CeleBitchy |
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Ever year around this time, Paula Abdul is sent out on a tour of crazy, hitting the talk show circuit to promote American Idol. Only this time, instead of babbling incoherently about Simon Cowell’s man-boobs, she’s slamming the producers of her hit show for allowing a woman to audition for the show who had stalked Paula for 17 years and later ended up killing herself outside Abdul’s home. Paula railed against Idol producers for encouraging contestant Paula Goodspeed in a radio interview with Barbara Walters earlier this week, but before she could repeat her rage on Late Night with Dave Letterman, she was told to keep her mouth shut.
Paula Abdul was told in no uncertain terms before her “Letterman” appearance last night to put a lid on her feud with “A.I.” producers.
Our sources say Paula is “extremely pissed” at “A.I.” producers for putting Paula Goodspeed on the show, despite the fact Goodspeed had been harassing Abdul for years — mad enough to make a stink on Dave’s show.
But before tape rolled, we’re told “A.I.” suits got in touch with Abdul and demanded that she not stoke the coals. “A.I.” made it clear — they were paying Paula’s bills so she needed to play by their rules.
Ultimately, Paula played ball, though somewhat insincerely. But it may have paid off. We’ve learned “A.I.” has already opened negotiations with Abdul for Season 9 — the talks have gone on for more than a month. That goes against the prevailing view that the fourth judge who debuts in the upcoming Season 8 will replace her.
[From TMZ]
Okay, Paula may be a lunatic, but what the Idol producers did was wrong, and she has every right to express her distress over what happened. A woman is dead. There’s no way of knowing if she would have committed suicide one way or another, but it sure seems like her appearance and rejection on the show sent her over the edge. It doesn’t seem right that they’re now bullying Paula into clamming up by hinting that her job is in jeopardy. If they’re going to get rid of her, do it because she’s a lousy judge and adds nothing of value to the show - not because she’s being honest about the shoddy treatment she received in this situation.
Here’s Paula arriving at the Ed Sullivan Theater in NYC for her Dave Letterman appearance. Why is she dressed like a British soldier from the 1700’s? Photo credits: WENN.
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| | Paula Abdul fears returning home after fan's death | | Added 16 years ago | Source: CeleBitchy |
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Paula Abdul really has feelings, she doesn?t just play the sympathetic sidekick to Simon Cowell?s nastiness. Since the unfortunate death of fan Palua Goodspeed outside Paula’s home on November 12 the American Idol judge hasn?t returned to her home. She was away at the time of the suicide.
“I’ve been staying in different homes and hotels, and I have security with me,” she tells People.
“It was very tragic and very upsetting to hear,” Abdul says of the death of Paula Goodspeed, a fan who auditioned for American Idol’s fifth season. “She had tried to do this before, and it was just heartbreaking … It was in the middle of Hollywood week, and it happened while I was actually working at the Kodak Theatre, and it was devastating to hear.”
While producers were informed shortly after police discovered Goodspeed’s body, no one let Abdul know until after they had finished taping Idol for the day. “It wasn’t fun,” Abdul says.
People
Paula adds that her house will soon be on the market, and that she has been working on her cheerleading MTV special and new accessories line to distract her from the tragedy.
Paula adds that this wasn?t the first time that she has had to deal with an obsessed fan, and that in 1993 a jailed man was writing her letters saying he was going to “get my mom and I” when he was released. Upon release he threatened the President and was jailed “for life”.
Stalkers seem to be common, or at least getting more press, and it must be terrifying. Think of how you feel after someone breaks into your home or car, or when a mentally unstable person violates your personal space on the street. Then imagine living with that threat 24/7.
Paula Abdul is shown outside the Good Morning America studios on 12/8/08. Credit: Bauergriffin
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