There's a 99.9% chance Simon Cowell was being sarcastic when he told us he was surprised about the Kobe Bryant divorce ... but when we told him about Kobe's non-prenup situation -- dude was GENUINELY blown away.
The "America's Got Talent" honcho was at The Grove in L.A. this weekend -- where he told us Jennifer Hudson was RIGHT ... Howard Stern IS a more intimidating judge.
In fact, Cowell thinks he's a pussycat compared the King of All Media ... telling us, "Meow."
Jennifer Hudson says she never considered Simon Cowell to be mean when she was on "American Idol" ... but the thought of facing Howard Stern has her quaking in her boots.
"Scrubs" star Zach Braff says he's never, EVER watched an episode of "America's Got Talent" ... but he's such a fan of Howard Stern ... he's willing to give it a try.
"American's Got Talent" honcho Simon Cowell thinks the Parents Television Council has NOTHING to worry about now that Howard Stern is joining the show ... telling TMZ, "If he goes too far, he'll be kicked off."
Cowell just called in to "TMZ Live" ... telling us he thinks Stern is way too smart to cross the line on the show -- "He's not stupid, this guy."
"AGT" judge Howie Mandel also called in ... telling us the PTC is "ignorant" for attacking Stern ... claiming, "It's ridiculous to think that he's bringing the Sirius show to 'America's Got Talent'."
Howard Stern pooh-poohed the notion that he was only pulling in 20 million measly dollars a year for his freshly-minted role as a judge on "America's Got Talent."
Stern was out in NYC today -- hours after the announcement -- when a camera dude asked if he was making $20 mil. Stern's response: "Do I work for that little?" Stern laughed -- yes, to the bank.
The reason the camera guy asked the question -- there were reports he was settling on $20 mil. But let's put this in context. Stern signed a 5-year deal with Sirius XM for an estimated $400 million.
A powerful parents organization is furious with NBC for hiring Howard Stern on "America's Got Talent" -- claiming the move is an "act of desperation for a flailing network."
The Parents Television Council has released a statement to TMZ ... claiming primetime TV is no place for Howard Stern ... "a performer who is synonymous with shock, profanity and obscenity."
The PTC says, "The once-proud broadcast network has lost its way and has made it clear
it holds no concern whatsoever for children and families."
The group adds, "Not coincidentally, in just over three weeks the network will be standing before the United States Supreme Court arguing for the right to use the F-word at any time of the day, even in front of children."
Dare we say ... we told you so. Howard Stern just signed on with "America's Got Talent."
The King of All Media will replace Piers Morgan, much to the chagrin of those folks at the Parents Television Council, which felt he was too raunchy for primetime.
And producers wanted Stern so bad, they've even agreed to move 'AGT' to NYC -- so Howard can continue working on his radio show.
Fact is ... as we've been saying, Stern is a smart dude who knows his audience and when he should push the limits.
Bottom line -- AGT could become the biggest show on TV.
6:32 AM PST -- Howie Mandel is fired up about his new co-star ... telling TMZ, "I couldn't be happier. As my Mom always says, you can never have enough Howies."
Ain't nothin' wrong with a little XXX in the workplace -- at least according to the upstanding people at YouPorn ... who tell us, whoever visited their site at "America's Got Talent" is welcome back anytime.
As we previously reported, "America's Got Talent" recently aired a TV spot -- which accidentally displayed the YouPorn logo while showing footage of someone's browser history.
But according to a rep for YouPorn, this kind of thing happens more often than you'd think -- because the website gets over 12 million hits PER DAY.
The rep adds, "We'd like to thank our friend at NBC for visiting us, and we hope he comes again ..."
Ah, the porn world -- where everything is a double entendre.
"America's Got Talent" just accidentally aired an advertisement for hardcore porn -- all because some dumbass forgot to clear his or her (but probably his) browser history.
The promo aired during last Wednesday's episode -- and if you freeze the video just right, you can see YouPorn.com show up as the person types in YouTube.com.
According to our computer experts, the only way YouPorn would have shown up was if someone using the computer had visited the site in the past.
Howie Mandel played a horrifying game of chicken recently -- literally stepping INSIDE a giant robotic hen ... and experiencing what we can only guess was some kind of exorcism.
It was all for a new episode of "America's Got Talent" -- Howie and his crew rode around inside the over-sized farm bird, all while Howie had a little too much fun with the chicken's built-in PA system ... seriously, it sounds like he's squawking demons out of his soul.
We're told the "Talent" crew rented out the Hen-a-tron -- its actual name -- for several hours ... and Howie had a blast. The power of poultry compels you.
Former "America's Got Talent" contestant Joe Finley believes a homeless person snuck into a ritzy L.A. hotel and killed his wife last year ... and now Joe is suing the hotel for wrongful death.
According to his lawsuit, obtained by TMZ, Finley claims his wife's death could have been prevented if the hotel would have done a better job of keeping out transients.
As TMZ first reported, Joe was questioned by cops after his wife's body was discovered in the staircase of the hotel back in October.
Cops have not officially identified the killer -- and the investigation is still open -- but in his lawsuit, Joe seems pretty confident a transient was responsible for the death.
In the docs, Joe claims the Biltmore was aware that there had been several recent disturbances inside the hotel by "transients and other uninvited third parties" ... including assaults and theft ... but the hotel failed to take proper security measures to keep their guests safe.
Joe claims there were several items in the staircase that suggest homeless people were even living in the building the night his wife was killed ... the items included, "Filthy clothing ... bottles full of urine ... and dirty blankets."
Joe is suing for unspecified damages. So far, no comment from the Biltmore.
Joe's lawyer, Sean Macias, tells us, "The tragic death of Laura Finely was preventable and The Biltmore failed to provide basic security measures and precautions."
Macias adds, "There has been prior serious criminal incidents at the hotel. They were understaffed with security and they had construction on first and second floors where uninvited transients and third parties were staying."
Howard Stern pooh-poohed the notion that he was only pulling in 20 million measly dollars a year for his 
