'America's Got Talent' judge scandal: Howard Stern blames Simon Cowell for Gabrielle Union's exit: 'He wants to bring in hotter and younger chicks'
Howard Stern did not hold back from slamming Simon Cowell for dismissing Gabrielle Union from the 'America's Got Talent' judging panel.
While speaking on his show Sirius XM, Stern shared that Cowell had "orchestrated" the whole situation. He shared that it did not surprise him at all as Cowell seems to calculate these kinds of things. He added that Cowell is always on the lookout for the next It-girl.
65-year-old Stern claimed, "He sets it up that the men stay no matter how ugly [the men] are, no matter how old they are, no matter how fat they are, no matter how talentless they are".
He went on to say that Cowell "replaces the hot chicks with hotter chicks and younger chicks." Stern also questioned "Howie’s [Mandel] doing a fine, serviceable job — why don’t they change him? And why don’t they change Simon? …" Stern shared that Cowell's panel is the perfect example of a boys' club.
Just last week, Variety reported the news of Union leaving the show. Union had alleged that she was subjected to some racially motivated criticisms including her hairstyle changes which were dubbed "too black" for AGT's demographic. Union had reportedly heard the same critiques more than half a dozen times.
The situation arose when Union had taken offense to an insensitive joke that was made by Jay Leno. She took the complaint to human resources but received no help. Recently, Jay Leno spoke to DailyMail and said, "I love Gabrielle Union, she's a great girl. I really enjoyed working with her, she's really good".
The replacements for Gabrielle Union and her co-judge Julianne Hough who was also axed, have not yet been announced. This is not the first time that an unpleasant or uncomfortable situation has risen within AGT. Post Nick Cannon's exit from the series, he revealed that he had quit as he knew he would be let go after making a racial joke about the show's image.