After the shocking news of Whitney Houston’s death broke, Simon Cowell called into CNN to talk about her legacy with Piers Morgan.
The X Factor boss also commented on the report, that broke only Friday night, that producers had offered one of the X Factor judges seats to Whitney.
Simon denies starting the rumor.
“The rumors that had got back to us… and that’s often what happens when people want to be on these shows, you know, somebody tells someone to get the word out, it’s normally a sign that they are interested.”
“We were ironically going to meet on Monday and of course one of the names we were going to be talking about in that meeting as a possible mentor on the new series of ‘ X Factor’ was actually going to be Whitney Houston.
“I have no idea genuinely whether she really was that interested or whether she would have…” Simon trailed off. “Given the choice, I would have liked to have taken her under my wing as well, because she would have been the ultimate, ultimate mentor to any contestant coming on the show.”
On Whitney’s legacy, Simon said:
“Whitney — ever since I’ve been doing this job, particularly doing talent shows over the last 10 years, the No. 1 singer anyone ever wanted to emulate, if they really wanted to be a superstar, it was always Whitney,” Simon said. “We would hear Whitney songs over and over again. She was the benchmark, she truly was.”
Simon’s personal feelings on Whitney’s passing:
“You’re going to remember where you were when you heard the news. It’s that significant… I am absolutely devastated by this news,” he said. “I am so sad for her. She was [undoubtedly] one of the greatest superstars of all time, one of the greatest voices in our life time we’re likely ever to hear. To hear this news, it really, really, really upset me. It really has.”
Hm. I’m not convinced Simon didn’t start the rumor that he offered the judges’ seat to Whitney. He admitted to starting nearly every rumor that hit the press during the 1st hunt for X Factor judges. Leaking tidbits is Simon’s standard operating procedure when he’s attempting to drum up buzz for his projects.
Source: Access Hollywood
