Former American Idol judge Paula Abdul dropped by Bravo’s Watch What Happens Live to chat and promote her upcoming Las Vegas residency.
During a call-in segment, a curious fan asked Paula what she thought of Katy Perry’s reported $25 million salary for sitting on the judges panel alongside Lionel Richie and Luke Bryan.
“Well good for her. Good for her,” Paula replied, “Why not?”
When host Andy Cohen gave her props for “not being bitter about it,” Paula joked that she takes it out on her pet chihuahuas “behind the scenes.”
The caller also wondered if Paula had watched the ABC reboot of American Idol. “Yes, I’ve seen a couple of episodes,” she admitted. But if you were hoping for some snark, Paula was not going there. “Both Katy and Lionel are friends. I love them!” Then she joked, “I’d like to know Luke.” Heh.
The subject of salary is a touchy one for Paula. She famously quit the show after season 8 over a salary dispute with showrunners. At the time, she was rumored to be making a paltry $3.5 million, with the show only willing to offer a modest bump to $5 million. That, compared to the $30 million+ Simon Cowell was raking in. Paula was ahead of the curve. In 2009, she quit her job over Twitter. (Good lawd, check me out using “twittered” as a verb!)
Not that she held a grudge. Paula went on to judge two seasons of former American Idol producer Nigel Lythgoe’s dance show, So You Think You Can Dance. She also joined the X Factor USA panel for one year. AND she’ll be a judge on Simon Cowell’s upcoming X Factor All Stars series. Of course, she returned to American Idol’s series finale on FOX alongside Simon and fellow judge Randy Jackson. Recently, Paula, Randy and Simon dropped by American Idol OG winner Kelly Clarkson’s talk show to reminisce about old times.
Watch Paula Abdul on Watch What Happens Live below.
