An email from the trove of Sony leaked emails now stored at Wikileaks reveals that Simon Cowell lobbied to take Howard Stern’s place at the judges table of his show, America’s Got Talent. It turns out he didn’t have much say in the matter, because the NBC brass said NO.
Insiders say an effort by Simon Cowell to take Howard Stern’s judge spot was rebuffed by NBC.
It must come as a shock to Simon Cowell that NBC thinks Howard Stern is more valuable. After it was revealed that the Cowell lobbied NBC to dump Stern from “America’s Got Talent” and hire him instead, Confidenti@l sources point out that the network snubbed the British TV mogul, even though he has a huge advantage over the radio legend: Cowell owns part of the show. That fact wasn’t lost on Stern, who dwelled on the subject at length during his SiriusXM show Monday. In an email to NBC president Steve Burke dated April 17, 2014 — obtained and released by WikiLeaks following the Sony cyberhack — Sony’s Michael Lynton described how Cowell wanted the NBC gig, arguing that he would be better than Stern on the show because it could be moved to L.A. and be cheaper to produce. But Stern seemed untroubled by the news Monday, as loyal sidekicks Robin Quivers and Fred Norris got more riled up than Stern. One source close to the show explained Stern’s demeanor by saying there’s no question NBC loves “America’s Judge.” “Cowell is better at taking other men’s wives than he is at taking other people’s jobs,” sniped the insider.
Poor Simon is just itching to get back onto American TV, isn’t he? Is he so desperate, that he would return to American Idol? I’m not sure they’d want him at this point.
Listen to Howard react to the news on his Sirius satellite radio show. Warning: Some NSFW language.
https://youtu.be/Q7LXthyZZl8
