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Simon Cowell was the infamous villain of American Idol's earliest seasons, with cutting insults on everything from contestants' voices to their sizes and even their physical features.
Fans who were around for the early days of the reality television explosion in the early 2000s may recall a much more aggressive, dare we even say mean tone to some of what made it on the air. There was perhaps no bigger example of that than Simon Cowell, who's "Mr. Nasty" persona on American Idol helped catapult the show to the top.
Now, the current America's Got Talent judge -- who is much more positive and supportive these days -- admits he regrets being so insulting to so many young hopefuls during his years on Idol. In fact, despite what some may have believed over the years, Cowell insisted in a new interview with The New York Times, "I wasn't trying to be a dick on purpose."
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View StoryHe went on to explain, "All I wanted with these shows was to find successful artists to sign to the label. 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.'"
Of course, Cowell said far more than just that to contestants, with some of his more pointed insults becoming water cooler talk after each new audition episode. Some have even gone down in history and are still remembered today with new articles in the past few years from the likes of ScreenRant's "American Idol: 10 Times Simon Cowell Went Too Far."
One example listed there included when Cowell compared one contestant's performance to Ed Wood's classic film bomb Plan 9 from Outer Space and declared another contestant "possibly the worst singer in the world." He also famously told William Hung his audition was "actually the worst auditions we've had this year" and said that "everything about it was grotesque." Hung, however, still parlayed that into success and several return appearances.
Cowell even went in on people's appearances -- it was a time when contestants were scrutinized as much for looking like a pop star as they were for sounding like one. He told one contestant he looked "like one of those creatures that live in the jungle with those massive eyes. What are they called? Bush baby."
Another contestant who went on to find great success, Mandisa, was torn into behind her back by Cowell, who quipped after sending her through, "Do we have a bigger stage this year?" He also compared her to a previous contestant named Frenchie Davis, saying, "Forget Frenchie, she's like France." Mandisa memorably confronted him at the Top 24 where she told Cowell that she forgave him and he apologized.
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View Story"That’s why I changed over time. I did realize I’ve probably gone too far," Cowell told the New York Times, when asked about cuts of contestants "looking absolutely crushed" after some of his more brutal barbs.
He then went on to try and explain some of his nastier comments, saying, "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."
When asked at that point what he was sorry for, specifically, Cowell said, "Well, just being a dick."
At the same time he did have to agree that his outsized insults were a big part of why American Idol rose to dominate in the ratings for so many years. Nevertheless, he doesn't look back at it all with pride. "Yeah. That was then. I’m not proud of it, let’s put it that way."
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View StoryHe went on to say that he tries to avoid compilation clips and articles, like the one mentioned above, about his sharp tongue, while nevertheless admitting, "the upside is that it made the shows really popular worldwide."
Cowell was part of the original judging panel on American Idol, alongside Randy Jackson and Paula Abdul, until his departure in 2010 to launch the short-lived U.S. version of his own singing competition series, The X Factor in 2011. Other judges during the show's years on Fox, from 2002 to 2016, included Kara DioGuardi, Ellen DeGeneres, Jennifer Lopez, Steven Tyler, Mariah Carey, Nicki Minaj, Keith Urban, and Harry Connick Jr.
In 2018, ABC acquired and relaunched American Idol with judges Luke Bryan, Katy Perry and Lionel Richie. Perry stepped away ahead of the 2025 season and was replaced by Season 4 winner Carrie Underwood, who returns alongside Bryan and Richie for the show's 24th season next month. Ryan Seacrest, of course, continues as host.
