By: Taylor Herring
As we all know, Paula Abdul will not be returning to American Idol next season. This decision leaves thousands of viewers wondering why Abdul demanded the six million dollar raise (and why she didn’t get it). When producers denied her request, I immediately knew the reason: they needed to save all they could, in order to keep Simon’s sardonic remarks coming through 2011.
Simon Cowell recently finalized a deal with Fox Entertainment to continue judging American Idol for at least the next three years. However, there is one catch: Cowell requested that his salary be raised over nine million dollars annually, ringing in at an outrageous 45 million dollars. To further put this into perspective, Ryan Seacrest, Randy Jackson, and Kara DioGuardi signed similar contracts of 45 million dollars to be spread over the course of three years. Why is Simon’s presence evidently worth so much more? This recent raise in salary makes Simon Cowell the single highest paid television star in the United States.
His annual earnings of 45 million would seem like more than enough, right? Apparently not. Simon also judges for Britain’s Got Talent and The X-Factor, which adds quite a bit to his already giant paycheck. Compared to his American Idol salary, though, this addition is merely pocket change in Simon’s designer jeans. “Spoiled” is an understatement, when referring to Cowell. But when asked about his job, Simon replied, “I’ve definitely become more spoiled and more shallow; and I can honestly say I’ve loved every minute of it. I have the best job in the world.” Of course, if I were being paid nearly a million dollars per hour on air, I’d say I have the best job, too.
Many people excuse Simon’s outrageous salary, due to the Idol Gives Back organization. Idol Gives Back was made to help poverty stricken groups of people; the charity donated nearly 65 million dollars in season six. While this is quite a generous amount that could help a large number of people, it falls very short of adequacy. This is because if Simon Cowell were to donate only one fourth of his new annual salary, he alone could feed 30,822 poverty-stricken children in Africa for an entire year. Further, if he were to donate one hundred percent of his earnings, he would be able to feed 123,286 starving children. All statistics aside, outrageously overpaid celebrities, such as Simon, become more and more greedy and self-obsessed, instead of finding more and more ways to truly “give back.”
Despite Simon’s selfish ways, 41% of viewers said that they would no longer tune in to American Idol if he were to leave the show. Even I must admit, he keeps the show unique and the competitors on their toes. So, regardless of the cost, it looks like our highest paid television personality is here to stay.
