Paula Abdul, via Twitter, announced last night that she was not renewing her contract with Idol. Twitter instantly lit up with people vowing to stop watching if they don't bring back everyone's favourite TV drunk. Do they actually think we tune in, week after week, to listen to horrible singers sing horrible songs? NO! We tune it to see what kind of crazy-talk Paula will bring. How can we go on without more moments like these ?
Speculation about Abdul’s future with the show grew rampant after manager David Sonenberg told the Los Angeles Times in July that FremantleMedia and 19 Entertainment, the production companies behind Idol, had not given her a new contract three weeks before the ninth season was to start filming — and just days after Idol host Ryan Seacrest reportedly signed a three-year deal for 45 million.
“She’s worked really hard for them and it’s time for them to reciprocate,” a source told PEOPLE at the time. “They need to come through or she’ll walk.”
The warning signs may have been there: Sonenberg spoke out against producers, calling them “rude and disrespectful” to Abdul for not having “stepped up,” but the judge not only felt under appreciated, she also believed she was underpaid.
“When everyone else [was] getting such big raises she was hurt,” a source close to the former Idol judge tells PEOPLE. “She did want to go back to the show, of course. She’s upset they didn’t give her what she deserved.”
According to a source close to the show, “FOX offered Abdul a raise, but it was much less than what she was asking for.” She asked for about $20 million, according to The Hollywood Reporter, and rejected a 30 percent raise — an eight-figure, multi-year deal.
Abdul’s announcement on her Twitter page — less than a week after FOX announced Kara DioGuardi was returning to the judges' table — blindsided producers and “took everyone by surprise,” adds the show source. But leaving Idol isn’t a complete loss for her professional career — there’s a chance she could move to another network.“Paula is an exceptional piece of talent,” Paul Telegdy, NBC’s alternative programming executive, told reporters Wednesday at the Television Critics’ Association panel in Pasadena, Calif. “We have no specific plans for her but I read the breaking news [of her departure from Idol] and I wouldn’t rule anything out.”
Between you and I..... I actually think Paula will be back this season. I think this is her trying to get her contract signed. Show the producers that the fans want her and that AI needs her.
Never have I dedicated more photos to a single story.
That Paula. She just gives and gives.
2 comments:
Paula was the second best judge for the sole reason that she has some semblance of a personality... now the show is going to be even more dependent on Simon
oops its really sad very sad....
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