Simon Cowell earned a reputation as TV’s “Mr. Nasty” after American Idol made him a global star. However, the music mogul isn’t too pleased with his reputation.
The former Idol and X Factor judge, 66, told The New York Times in an interview published on Saturday, November 29, that he regrets some of his insulting comments to contestants on the hit singing competition, explaining, “I wasn’t trying to be a d*** on purpose.”
“All I wanted with these shows was to find successful artists to sign to the label,” he continued. “So when all these people were coming in and they couldn’t sing, I would be like when I used to audition people and someone would come in and they can’t sing. We would say after 10 seconds, ‘You can’t sing.’ Not, ‘You’re going to be brilliant.’”
Cowell went on to apologize for some of his cutting remarks on the talent show, on which he was a judge from 2002 to 2010. Interviewer Lulu Garcia-Navarro noted to Cowell that the show often “cut to people looking absolutely crushed” after receiving feedback from him.
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“That’s why I changed over time. I did realize I’ve probably gone too far,” he said. “I didn’t particularly like audition days, because they’re long and boring. I would get fed up. And of course, out of a hundred nice comments, what are they going to use? They’re always going to use me in a bad mood. I got that. What can I say? I’m sorry.”
Asked what specifically he was apologizing for, Cowell said, “Well, just being a d***.”
Despite his terse demeanor, Cowell agreed with Garcia-Navarro that his personality was part of what made American Idol so successful, though he expressed some regrets.
“Yeah. That was then. I’m not proud of it, let’s put it that way,” the British talent show judge said. “I never look at this stuff online, so when I hear about these clips, I’m like, Oh, God. But then again, the upside is that it made the shows really popular worldwide.”
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Cowell was part of the original American Idol judging lineup with Paula Abdul and Randy Jackson before leaving the show in 2010 to launch the U.S. version of The X Factor on Fox in 2011.
In his New York Times interview, the music executive touched on working with host Ryan Seacrest, of whom Garcia-Navarro said she was “mystified by how he is so ubiquitous and so popular.”
“I can’t really answer that one. He does work hard,” Cowell responded, going on to give an update on where they stand now.
“He was very, very ambitious. I didn’t follow his career, so I don’t know what he’s done. We rarely talk now. He was very steely about his career — wanting to be famous. This massive, massive desire about being, you know, very famous,” he added.
Cowell also reflected on working with Britney Spears, who was a judge on The X Factor for one season in 2012. In her 2023 memoir, The Woman In Me, Spears said she “absolutely hated” having to judge contestants’ singing abilities.
“Did she?” Cowell responded to hearing about Spears’ experience on the show. “That’s a shame. I did say to the network, ‘I don’t know if she wants to do it, and if she doesn’t, we’ve got to give her the option of being able to leave.’ No one was forcing her.”
“She also mentioned to me how much she didn’t like pop music. She was into a different kind of music. So I think she probably struggled with mentoring the artists,” he added.
