Simon Was Offered $100 Million to Stay on Idol

All the money in the world couldn’t have kept Simon Cowell on American Idol. The feisty judge was reportedly offered $100 million to stay on the show. Page Six says that’s what the show executives offered Simon so he wouldn’t walk.

Previous reports claimed the number was even higher than that—up to $144 million. But it seems Simon had his mind up, and wanted to start focusing on bringing The X Factor to the United States.

Simon commented on how well new judge Ellen Degeneres reacted to the news that he was leaving.

“Ellen sort of saw the funny side,” Simon said. “She was kidding around with me, saying: ‘On my first day you decide to quit?’ She’s professional. I don’t think it was a total surprise.”

Adam Lambert commented on Simon’s departure from the show, telling Oprah, “The audience will definitely miss Simon. The contestants will miss out on, like, really honest criticism. Sometimes it can be a little personal, and I know other contestants took it to heart sometimes and got really stressed out about what he would say. [But] I think that that’s important to making you a better performer … You’ve got to hear the good and the bad.”

In related news, rumor has it Simon has his eye on music producer Tommy Mottola to be a judge on The X Factor. Must be nice to have so much money that you can say no to $100 million! Most people wouldn’t walk away from $100 grand!