Simon Cowell reflects on his controversial legacy as ‘American Idol’ judge

Simon Cowell is looking back on his divided legacy as a judge during the early period of American Idol, prior to his exit in 2010.

During a conversation on The New York Times programme The Interview, Cowell expressed a bit of regret while explaining why he made a harsh critic on the competition series.

“When I used to do auditions, someone would come in and they can’t sing, we would say after 10 seconds, ‘You can’t sing,’ not, ‘You’re going to be brilliant,’ and everything else,” he began to explain. “So I was frustrated at the beginning, because I thought, if we don’t find someone good at the end of these shows, they’re not going to get recommissioned.”

When the interview host Lulu Garcia-Navarro further pressed about the humiliation which Cowell’s reactions may have caused for the aspiring singers and musicians, he responded, “I’ve got to be honest with you. That’s why I did change over time. I mean, I did realize I’ve probably gone too far.”

“I didn’t particularly like, I still don’t like, audition days because they’re long and boring. I would get fed up,” he added, while explaining that out of a “100 nice comments”, the broadcast editors would “always” use the most sensationally cruel ones. “They’re always going to use, you know, me being in a bad mood. I got that.”

The English record executive also shared that he is “sorry” for “just being a d***”.

“I’m not proud of it. Let’s put it that way. I never look at this stuff online or anything. You know, I’m not someone who particularly wants to see myself on camera,” he continued. “So when I hear about these clips, I’m like, ‘Oh God’. But then again, the upside, I suppose, with these clips, is that it made the shows really popular worldwide.”

Simon Cowell is currently promoting the upcoming release of his Netflix documentary, Simon Cowell: The Next Act, out on December 10.