Jennifer Lopez's American Idol stint has reportedly ended before it even formally started.
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"Her demands got out of hand," a source close to the situation told People. "Fox had just had enough."
Widespread reports that Lopez would be joining American Idol for its upcoming tenth season had surfaced in late July a few hours after Fox and Ellen DeGeneres announced the comedian and daytime talk show host had decided to leave her Idol judging position after just a single season.
Subsequent reports also claimed that Aerosmith singer Steven Tyler would also be joining Lopez on a new three-person Idol judging panel that would also feature returning original judge Randy Jackson and chop Kara DioGuardi, who had joined the panel two season ago. Tyler later said he was "probably" going to be joining American Idol.
Fox has declined to comment on the shakeup reports -- which had also included since-confirmed reports that Nigel Lythgoe will be returning to American Idol as one of the show's executive producers -- however entertainment chairman Peter Rice had told reporters no new talent contracts had been signed yet last week.
"The only thing I can tell you is that no one has signed a deal yet on either side of the camera to be on American Idol who wasn't on the show last year," he told reporters at the network's Television Critics Association's summer press tour presentation last Monday.
But while he declined to comment on the reports, Rice had admitted that didn't necessarily mean Lopez and Tyler wouldn't be joining Jackson on a new three-person panel and Kara DioGuardi wasn't being axed.
"Much of the information [in the media] is accurate and some of it is wildly inaccurate," he said before adding Fox expects to have Idol's tenth-season judging panel in place and announced by the time the season's nationwide callback auditions begin with the judges begin in mid-September.
According to TMZ's original July 29 about Idol's new alleged tenth-season judging panel, a failure to finalize a deal with Lopez was the only way DioGuardi could still return to Fox reality competition.
"We're told the only way Kara could get a reprieve is if the J-Lo deal falls apart -- but we're told that deal is done," the website had reported at the time.
However according to People, Fox may now be re-examining some of their earlier judging candidates -- which reportedly included Elton John, Chris Isaak, Harry Connick Jr., Jessica Simpson, and Justin Timberlake -- now that Lopez's negotiations have fallen apart.
About The Author: Steven Rogers
