The Daily Beast’s Richard Rushfield reports that last week’s obviously false reports that Howard Stern was a “top choice†to replace Simon Cowell on American Idol in 2011 are false: “Two Idol insiders told the Daily Beast that no offer has been made to Stern, and that in fact, with the new season just beginning, the show is months away from choosing a replacement for Cowell. A source familiar with the search process says Stern was never even being considered.†And, again, presumably all of Stern’s talk on his satellite-radio show last Friday was just meant to put pressure on Sirius, with whom he’ll soon renegotiate his expiring $100 million-per-year contract (though he might’ve undercut his leverage slightly by calling Idol judge Ellen DeGeneres a “fuckerâ€).
In a related story, the Daily News says that Madonna’s manager, Guy Oseary, whose name has come up before, is now “in the lead†to replace Simon: “His competition just can’t live up to his level of experience and the people behind the show are slowly starting to realize it,†says a “Fox insider.†We assume this will be rebutted swiftly by another insider or person with an impending contract renegotiation.
No Idol for Stern [Daily Beast]
Entertainment manager Guy Oseary favored to replace Simon Cowell as next ‘American Idol’ host [NYDN]