Did people just up and forget who Simon Cowell was and what he was like somehow? That’s not an excuse for any behavior he does display towards his fellow judges or the contestants, but it hasn’t been a secret as to how he acts and reacts to those that are on whatever show he’s working on, and as Katie Scott of Global News makes clear America’s Got Talent is no different in this regard. His latest feud with former judge Gabrielle Union made headlines when it was deduced that she actually left the set at one point when she was unable to deal with him. Simon was notably upset when she came back and actually decided to get on her case about it. The downside of course is that Simon Cowell is, on set, an out and out jerk, but the confusing part about this is that people seemed to have forgotten this immutable fact despite having known that he’s been this way for years. As a TV judge and host he’s been known for being particularly hard on contestants and even feuding with his fellow judges from time to time. This time around however it was more than could be stomached since Gabrielle also cited the fact that he was continuously smoking within the venue that was being used and without any proper dressing rooms Gabrielle, who is apparently allergic to cigarette smoke, was worried for her health.
Union isn’t the only judge that he’s had a beef with over the years as a more than a few people have had plenty to say about him. For one reason or another Cowell seems to think he’s a nice guy while others get to see the side of him that he doesn’t seem to acknowledge. Or, if a person is willing to take the other side of the debate, it could be that others just don’t get his sense of humor or personality and tend to think that he’s a jerk without thinking about their own reactions and shortcomings. It’s Hollywood, there are plenty of people there that have a LOT of shortcomings that they don’t want to admit to, and Simon is just one of the many. In short this is just so much sniping at this point by celebrities that might not be doing this for attention but at the very least are willing to make their spats public. While Union has spoken out about racism, which is always a good thing when it’s truthful and necessary, the racism she alerted people to on AGT has been hotly contested since it was believed that in the essence of making a joke the subject matter wasn’t racist at all. If you’re rolling your eyes at the moment that’s understandable since the word ‘racism’ is thrown around so regularly at this time that it’s beginning to lose a lot of its meaning. But if you want to know why she was fired, in her opinion, then you might want to open your mind as much as it can be and try to see things from her point of view.
Eric Todisco of People has written that Gabrielle’s husband, NBA legend Dwayne Wade, stated the the following:
‘Men lie, Women lie, numbers don’t.’ Over this past year I’ve been approached by many people saying that my wife @itsgabrielleu is the main reason they’ve started watching #AGT or that they love her insight and sincerity on the show,”
In his support of his wife Wade has been very vocal and has continued to build up Union, though this isn’t about to get her back on the show, even if there’s no chance that she would want to go back considering that she has been forthcoming about the kind of issues she’s seen and had to go through. What makes her word look a little less convincing however is that while at first, she and fellow judge Julianne Hough, who was also let go, seemed to speak in solidarity concerning their firing and the issues they had to deal with, Hough later on stated that she had no huge issues and counted her time on the show as a great experience. In fact, Hough even said this:
“I had a wonderful time on America’s Got Talent, I loved working with the cast, crew, and producers. I am happy to continue my working relationship with NBC,”
So it’s hard to know at this point who’s telling the truth about their experiences and who’s being insanely sensitive, but what’s really easy to do is say, ‘who cares?’. The moment anyone sits down on a panel with Simon Cowell, or anyone else for that matter, they should have some idea of who they’re dealing with since it’s not too hard to do a quick search on anyone these days. Sorry Gabrielle, but if you had no idea what Simon was like then it’s on you to find out and say yea or nay to working with him.
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