Home : American Idol : Simon Says "I Wasn't Listening. I'm Horrified!"

Simon Says "I Wasn't Listening. I'm Horrified!"

Posted Apr 18th 2007 1:40PM by TMZ Staff

Simon CowellTMZ spoke with Simon Cowell this morning about last night's incident on "A.I.," in which Cowell sarcastically rolled his eyes after contestant Chris Richardson offered condolences to the families of the victims at Virginia Tech.

Cowell told TMZ, "I couldn't hear what Chris had said. I was talking to Paula. My reaction (rolling my eyes) was to what he had said previously, that singing nasally is a form of singing."

It's true, when the judges are off camera they frequently jab at each other as the singers do their thing.

Simon told TMZ he was shocked when he saw what went down: "When I watched the show back, I was horrified."



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31. Personally, I thought Simon was eye rolling about the singing comment, not the comments about the tragedy at VT....for that matter, I would guess he is doing alot of eye rolling, because this season of AI is boring. I cannot believe they couldn't find any better talent. Of course there are a couple who are "okay" but that is about it. I know there are some people who don't like Simon, but he pretty much tells it like it is. I can imagine his reaction if Sanjaya doesn't get cut tonite.

Posted at 12:45PM on Apr 18th 2007 by MJP

32. It was obvious Simon wasn't listening to what was said. He was reeling over the nasal singing comments and talking to Paula.

Posted at 12:49PM on Apr 18th 2007 by jar

33. Oh yeah, and the comment that Simon did make about VT last night were the most disingeniuos ever spoken. Simon, next time leave the sentiment to Ryan. (That's pretty bad when Ryan is more "for real" than you are, Simon.)

Posted at 12:50PM on Apr 18th 2007 by she smiled

34. There are things I observed last night that now have me questioning his behavior. Didn't all register til reading some of the comments here. Why did he need to jump in with his own shout out to VT- whose name he could not even remember.Didn't refer to them by name and you could see him struggling to think of the name but couldn't come up with it. And you could also see that he jumped in with the comment at a time that was random. Someone must have told him-you need to say something, uhhh now-because the rolling eyes for whatever reason did not look good on camera and could be misunderstood.Someone saw that and clued Simon in then, not when he "watched the show back." And GO HOKIES!

Posted at 12:52PM on Apr 18th 2007 by Meowch!!

35. Simon admitted that he wasn't paying attention. He was talking to Pauler! Simon comes off as some playground kid with attention deficit! Maybe he wouldn't get blind sided with these things if he spent his time paying attention to the contestants instead of flirting with Pauler!

Which do they pay him to do?

Posted at 12:51PM on Apr 18th 2007 by Sharon

36. I think Simons serious.

I dont know why he wouldnt listen to Chris though, and why he was STILL rolling his eyes over the whole thing. It was over.. about 10 seconds BEFORE he rolled his eyes.

but I believe him.
Believe in Chris.

We LOVE You Virginia Tech. Stay Strong

Posted at 12:51PM on Apr 18th 2007 by Chrisfannnnnn

37. Come on TMZ. Don't try to make it a huge thing. It was obvious this was the reaction to the "nazzle" thing. Don't make a mountain out of a mole hill. That's how things get running and out of control STOP!!!
Did you forget to mention that the 3 judges joined together in their comment about the incident? Never mentioned that did you... would not have made the story what it was would it?

Posted at 12:57PM on Apr 18th 2007 by Rick

38. I watched the show and IMO, Simon was as disgusted with the 'nasally' comment as I was!! He didnt hear the VT comments (and Chris was out of line with that comment at that time!) It looked like they cut to commercial just in time -- Chris went in the back and cried like a B*TCH
I have never liked Chris and he should go -- but Sanj needs to go first!

Posted at 12:56PM on Apr 18th 2007 by A

39. There wouldn't be an American Idol, without Simon. He tells it, like it is.
Sanjaya, is a very sweet young man, at least he comes across that way. I, totally agree with Simon.

Posted at 1:00PM on Apr 18th 2007 by Anna

40. First of all, IF Simon did roll his eyes about the V.T. tragedy, it was at most insensitive. Nothing more, nothing less. And secondly, If he didn't roll his eyes at Chris' comments would all of those on here that are bitching about him give HIM an appology? Doubt it.
I think Simon has a personality trait that tends to offend some people ( mainly those that don't like to hear the truth), but I really respect anyone who can be as honest as he is and tell it like it is.
I truly don't think he was rolling his eyes about the V.T. comment. I think he's just frustrated by the lack of talent this season ( as I am as well). There have been many times during the show when I have seen the judges not being able to hear the contestants because of the audience noise behind them. The contestants are wired with a live feed to the sound producers, so even though we can clearly hear everything, the judges and audience can't.
Get off your soap box now and stop whining.

Posted at 1:21PM on Apr 18th 2007 by Malynda

41. There wouldn't be an American Idol, without Simon. He tells it, like it is.
Sanjaya, is a very sweet young man, at least he comes across that way. I, totally agree with Simon. As for rolling his eyes, anyone can see that he was reacting to Chris's explanation why he sang nasally. If anything, it seemed like Chris, changed the subject by switching to the V-Tech tragedy. What is it with these wannabe's? They should appreciate the chance they have been given. Which, if they had to do it on their own, could never happen. They should shut up and concentrate on trying to sing. The main reason I, watch A.I. Is because of Simon.

Posted at 1:18PM on Apr 18th 2007 by Anna

42. I do believe Simon was rolling his eyes when Chris talked about Virgina Tech. However, I think he rolled his eyes because he thought Chris was using the time to garner sympathy votes.
Either way, very very bad on Simon's part. I am ashamed for him.

Posted at 1:19PM on Apr 18th 2007 by Rhiannon Jersey

43. Simon has demonstrated himself to be an abusive, arrogant, pompous ass - and now we can add irresponsible and insensitive. He makes his money through humiliation of others (and those who watch that show endorse it). For anyone to think he cares about anything or anyone but himself is delusional. Simon is a loathsome specimen of humanity. Unfortunately the rest of us are propping him and those like him up. His reaction does not surprise me at all.

Posted at 2:00PM on Apr 18th 2007 by CTinSF

44. I think Simon was rolling his eyes as Chris' so called explanation of his "nasaly" performance, and Chris threw the VT comment in so fast that he didn't actually hear it right away. Chris and Sanjaya both need to go and let the competition actually begin.

Posted at 1:40PM on Apr 18th 2007 by John

45. Simon is lying. He clearly rolled his eyes after hearing Chris make the comment. This has happened before (at least once earlier this season, in fact) when contestants have given a "shout out" at the end of the critique session. Simon has said before that he thinks that contestants try to gain sympathy by doing this, attempting to curry emotional favor in the voting. Simon was visbly awkward when he tried to make up for the eye-roll during his closing comment to Chris, as though having been forced to back pedal.

Posted at 1:36PM on Apr 18th 2007 by Jake Spidermonkey

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