Simon Cowell's ex-girlfriend Terri Seymour and his fellow  "X-Factor" judge Paula Abdul both worked their smiles at the same event in Beverly Hills on Thursday.


Question is ...

The personal chef who sued Simon Cowell and Terri Seymour just hit the smallest jackpot we've ever seen in a celebrity lawsuit -- a pair of old sneakers and some gas money!

As TMZ first reported, the chef filed suit against Simon and Terri earlier this month, claiming the "American Idol" judge wouldn't return her running shoes -- equipped with $500 orthopedic insoles. The chef claims Terri made her remove the shoes before entering Cowell's Hollywood Hills mansion.

But yesterday, Team Simon and the chef reached a settlement -- the chef got her shoes back ... plus around $75 in court costs ... and $9 for the gas!

We just spoke to the chef, who told us, "I got my shoes back ... yayyyyyyy!"

Case closed.

He's used to crushing wannabe singers, but now Simon Cowell is accused of destroying a wannabe chef ... or at least her arch support.

Simon and his ex-GF Terri Seymour have been sued by a woman who claims she got a "try-out" to be their private chef. In the docs, the chef claims Terri made her remove her sneakers and put on a "clear-bottom" pair when entering the home.

The cooking seemed to go well and the chef eventually took off, only to realize that she left her sneakers behind -- which she claims had $500 orthopedic insoles inside of them.

The chef claims she made repeated attempts to get 'em back -- and even made an additional trip to the house when Terri's assistant claimed he found them. She says the pair he produced weren't hers.

The woman has filed a small claims lawsuit seeking $661.59 from Cowell to cover the shoes, pricey insoles and the $9 in gas she wasted driving over.

A rep for Simon and Terri says "this is a ridiculous story." The rep says the chef simply left her sneakers and that Simon and Terri attempted to return them -- adding the pair that was found in the house are in fact the woman's sneakers.

Janice Thibodeaux will now have to do what Simon Cowell apparently cannot -- stay away from Terri Seymour.

A judge just granted Seymour's request for a permanent restraining order against Thibodeaux, stemming from an attack that went down last month after "American Idol." Thibodeaux will now have to stay at least 100 yards away from Seymour for the next three years.

Thibodeaux pled guilty to battery last month and was sentenced to 36 months probation.

Janice Thibodeaux -- the lady accused of choking Simon Cowell's ex girlfriend, Terri Seymour -- just pled guilty to battery. The assault charge was dropped.


Janice received 36 months probation, has to complete 20 days of labor and has the option to go to anger management or to have 36 hours of psych evaluation. She has to report back to court on July 16 for a progress report.

The attack against Seymour occurred a few weeks back after a taping of "American Idol."

Terri filed for a restraining order shortly after the incident.

Terri Seymour has just filed a request for a restraining order from Janice Thibodeaux -- the 200 pound woman who attacked her outside of the "American Idol" finale in Los Angeles last week.

In the document, filed just moments ago in L.A. County Superior Court, Terri claims the woman "has sought publicity for her wrongful act and stated to the media that they were intentional and that she does not regret that."

Terri also says she fears that Janice "will again assault and further harass" her.

Seymour goes on to describe the attack, saying Thibodeaux "attacked [her] from behind, putting her into a headlock, wrenching her neck and choking her with the full force of her 200 pound frame."

Terri says she could have been injured or killed if Janice hadn't been restrained by nearby cops.

In the papers, Terri claims that Janice is feeding from the publicity from the attack, and is likely to do it again.

UPDATE -- TMZ has received a statement from Janice Thibodeaux saying, "You let Terri know that I have no problem with her at all, thank you."

The lady who allegedly choked Simon Cowell's ex, Terri Seymour, has been charged with two misdemeanors -- battery and assault.

The L.A. City Attorney has just charged Janice Thibodeaux with battery and assault for the alleged attack on Terri after the "American Idol" finale in Los Angeles on Tuesday night.

Maximum penalty for the battery charge is six months in county jail and a $2,000 fine -- and the assault charge could get her 1 year and a $10,000 fine.

Janice will be in court this afternoon.


UPDATE: Janice was just arraigned and pled not guilty. The judge set her bail at $20,000 -- she'll be back in court on June 4.

We've learned Terri Seymour -- Simon Cowell's ex -- was assaulted after attending the "American Idol" finale last night.



It happened at L.A. Live -- a complex that includes the Nokia Theatre where "A.I." was taped. A 33-year-old woman walked up to Terri, asked if she was Simon's girlfriend. The suspect allegedly attacked her and attempted to choke her.

The suspect -- Janice Thibodeaux -- was booked on felony battery. She's being held on $52,700 bail.

We're told Terri refused medical treatment. She was escorted out of the complex by three cops.

Just found out Thibodeaux is twice Terri's size, weighing in at 200 lbs.

UPDATE -- TMZ spoke with Thibodeaux's brother and sister who told us Janice is "not crazy" and this is "way out of character" for her.

Simon Cowell admitted his incident with a Beverly Hills cop last week was "slightly embarrassing" -- but we already knew that, 'cause when we brought it up last night, his face instantly turned bright, bright red!


Simon was out at Beso for dinner with ex-GF Terri Seymour last night -- but they left in separate cars.

Just friends?