For months, Jennifer Lopez has been playing a one-woman Hamlet in the press, changing her mind daily about whether she would return for a third season of American Idol, the reality show which gave her career one of the most extraordinary second acts in modern celebrity. J.Lo was still playing word games yesterday during her interviews, not confirming or denying that she was leaving. Then, in a sudden move late yesterday, Steven Tyler announced that HE was leaving Idol to focus on Aerosmith. So Jennifer decided to walk all over Steven’s announcement by suddenly announcing that yes, she’s made up her mind, and she’s definitely leaving.
After months of speculation, and the “hardest business conversation she’s ever had,” Jennifer Lopez confirms she is leaving American Idol after two seasons.
“I honestly feel like the time has come that I have to get back to doing the other things that I do that I put … on hold because I love Idol so much,” Lopez, 42, told Ryan Seacrest Friday on his KIIS-FM morning show.
“I could do Idol for the rest of my life,” she said, “but that would be giving up a bunch of other things. We had an amazing run.”
Lopez follows in the footsteps of fellow judge Steven Tyler, who announced Thursday that he will not be returning for another season.
There is also speculation that veteran critic Randy Jackson will be leaving. And a source tells PEOPLE Mariah Carey is in serious talks to take one of the judges’ spots.
I know a lot of you disagree with me, but I still think this is one of the stupidest moves J.Lo has ever made for her career. It’s right up there with “marrying Marc Anthony and letting him bully her into firing half of her management team.” J.Lo was in the wilderness (career-wise) during her marriage to Marc. She wasn’t getting many movie offers and her albums were selling poorly. Idol changed all of that, and now she’s back on the A-list. And I think she seems unprofessional and ungrateful for leaving after only two seasons. It will be worse for her too if Idol producers reveal that Jennifer decided not to come back because she wanted even more money.
Photos courtesy of WENN, Casper Smart’s Twitter.
I’m glad she’s leaving. She was a horrible judge. I hated her “sweeties” and “baby” she liked to call the contestants when she actually had something critical to say *snort*. Snort because she really had almost nothing critical to say. Everyone was always “awesome” “great” “beautiful” and blah blah. Plus she has one of the most annoying speaking voices ever.
In that first pic, is she changing his diaper?????????
I agree. All the judges on that show spread it on way to thick. It’s sickening. Get the contestants to perform their own songs.Then we’d really see how talented they are.
This woman has no talent and exemplifies mediocrity. Didnt want anyone singing her songs on the show because she knew ANYONE could sing the crap better. This cow is not worth the money.
Never watch the show, can’t stand her. How is it that someone with relatively little talent can propel herself to the top? It never ceases to amaze me how sheer force of will and greed can replace honest skill.
I think it’s ignorant to say that Jennifer personifies mediocrity. She may not be a very good vocalist, but she’s certainly not a mediocre dancer or performer. It’s not easy to get up there and pull off choreography the way that she does during her energetic performances. She might not be right for a show like Idol–that’s dedicated solely to “the voice” (even though recent winners haven’t really been about the vocals at all) but she’d be the perfect judge on a show like the X Factor.
Hogwash! Her and Tyler must have gotten their walking papers and now they’re coming out with “I’m quitting” to save face…Who would quit a show like that making the money they did without a reason?
Exactly what I was thinking! Saying you resign when you know you are going to be fired is the same as being fired in my opinion. I don’t watch idol but I never understood why they had her on as a judge….bitch can’t carry a tune tune to save her life!
I will second that “Exactly what I was thinking!”
The timing of her and ST’s announcements make it too glaringly obvious.
I just hope she isn’t expecting a backlash. She’s more likely to get a celebration parade.
Totally agree. All three (Randy is trailing behind them) just “happen” to decide to leave at the same time? They were booted out because the ratings were down and they aren’t worth the salaries they are making. It’s all PR to make them look like they didn’t get fired.
honestly, i wouldn’t mind if she kinda disappeared from the public eye. can’t really stand her and i find her to be a terrible singer and an even worse actress. sorry if that’s harsh, but she has bigger ego than talent! and an even worse taste for men… although she has a hot bod, i’ll give her that.
Yep- ^^^^^Thising all day long^^^^^^
Totally agree. If I never see her smug face again, I won’t miss it.
Let’s hope she would bring along Casper the Friendly Ghost to disappear…
Don’t let the door hit you on your fat ass….
As is if could miss…..
She should honestly stick to voice acting. She can do a cute little squeak with her throat… but she is so bad on idol. Just, so bad.
I may be one of the few but I really liked her as a judge. she was constructive without being harsh and I liked her sweetie and baby and goosies. she looked amazing every week too. it was fun to see what she would wear and how she would do her hair. she was by far my favorite female judge ever on idol. I think she should have stayed. the show really revived her like nothing else could and would have kept her there.
I agree…I was totally prepared to hate jlo when she started on Idol and I found I kinda liked her…steven tyler on the other hand was HORRIBLE…could not make sense of anything he had to say…will not be sorry to see him go! Hope they have Adam Lambert and Shanie Twain replace them! Or Harry Connick Jr…he was a good mentor!
I don’t dislike her but in my opinion she’s a talentless actress and an unbearable singer. Yet, she’s an amazing dancer. Why would she leave something that brought her back to the spot? She’s not very smart either…
Dancing doesn’t bring in the million$ you can get from being an actor/singer/stunt queen. Madonna realized this decades ago, and JLo and other mediocre talents have been sticking to this gameplan ever since.
Last time I checked she has been nominted for a Golden Globe
Yeah, I don’t think all people who have won big awards are the best of their field. Only money I thought she was really good was the one where she portrayed a mom who had left her husband and was running away from him with her daughter. I loved monster in law though.
I meant *** movie.
@The Truth:
As if a Golden Globe carries the same prestige as an Academy Award. Golden Globe nominees are chosen by the Hollywood Foreign Press Association, i.e., entertainment reporters. Oscar nominees are chosen by their peers. Big difference.
The article calls Randy Jackson a “critic”. If only….
Don’t watch AI. Are the ratings down so Steven Tyler and JLo got pink slips?
At least Tyler has a singing voice to fall back on. He still has some good songs left in him.
As for JLo, maybe the show wasn’t willing to pay her the money to maintain the pretentious lifestyle to which she was accustomed. Whatever the reason, good riddance.
If the talented Selena (Quintanilla) was still alive, everybody would be saying: Jennifer who? Oh, wasn’t she on In Living Color or something?
But she was talented enough to play Selena wasn’t she
Jen was an actress before Selena died
Agreed – I think they are both talented.
This is all speculation, of course, but maybe when JLo was starting out in films she made the extra effort and listened to good advice, because she was hungry for success. So, there were decent performances in Selena and Out Of Sight. Having achieved fame and fortune, she bought into her hype and became as entitled as any other star. She spent a lot of time being a stunt queen and selling her personal life to the tabloids. Her film work suffered.
As for her singing, please. She’s in no position to criticize AI contestants when they have more vocal talent than she has.
Well she didn’t sing in the movie so I can’t give her full credit
Well she didn’t sing in the movie so I can’t give her full credit. Her acting wasn’t that great either-she looked like Selena
I don’t watch antmore but Idol did reboot her slowing career. I would bet she wanted way more $ and they said no.
I shudder to think that with more time on her hands now, she will make more “music”.
I think “a run” should be more than two seasons.
Exactly. I saw that and thought I must have missed something. Nope. Don’t know the technical definition for a “run,” but two in a row ain’t it.
I don’t think she’s dumb, but I do think she makes dumb emotional decisions. She needs some hormone therapy in the worst way.
She’s a talentless, dull has-been, and if she quit AI because she wanted more money, well, good luck to her. Who does she think is going to pay her zillions and zillions of dollars for her stuck-in-the-90’s music and sub-par acting? And don’t get me started on that silver feathery leotard outfit…
Agree!
Anyone owning stock in shiney dresses and leotards should sell it immediately!
Can ‘Idol’ die now?
I think the question is, when will we stop kicking this dead horse.
Maybe Casper told her to leave?
In the first pic, he’s wearing a hat that says ‘obey’.
Naw, she wanted too much $$ and got canned.
Don’t take it literally
http://obeyclothing.com/
http://obeyclothing.com/about/
Oh, thank God. Please let this be beginning of her descent into obscurity.
Here’s hoping!
Have a great weekend!
You too! 🙂
I think she decided to leave in the wake of ST leaving because staying would imply that, while he has a music career to focus on, Idol is all she has. She has quickly joined the ranks of Madonna, Gwen, and Beyonce as celebrities so annoying, my hatred for them is starting to interfere with my life.
I talk all the time about how looks aren’t really important and stuff. I’m a flaming hypocrite, because I resent Jennifer Lopez for inflicting that hideous boy toy on us. If he seemed to have a good personality, I hope I wouldn’t mind. But who knows.
Jennifer Lopez’s taste in men is completely incomprehensible to me.
Jennifer’s full interview with Ryan Seacrest is at the bottom:
http://www.people.com/people/article/0,,20611765,00.html
The Wrap is saying she was fired because she wanted a raise to $17 million.
Now that sounds more like her.
i highly doubt her and steven tyler quit. more like, not renewed.
Big mistake on her part. She’ll realize that when her career slips back down several notches to where it was before Idol. Her boy Casper probably has something to do with this. I can see why Steven went back to his band, but she’s no Steven Tyler or Aerosmith, and I doubt she’ll be around anywhere near as long as they have. Just saw them two weeks ago and they were amazing. He may be 64, but Tyler still is a great frontman.
I like millions of people I loved American Idol when it first came out. It didn’t come on every year. That is the first thing they need to change about this show. Does anyone remember any of the past winners. Where are they? There are only a hand full in all these years that are still “on the charts”. I actually think Jennifer was a good judge. She was at the start, then she forgot the show was not about her. She wasn’t there to find the next new talent. It became so self promotional it made me sick and I stopped watching. I don’t tune in to Idol to see what Jennifer is wearing or what song she is singing and her kissing flirting with boyfriend.
There are so many things wrong with the show. They never give the new winner time to become established. The winners overlap so much you can’t keep who won when straight, and as someone stated it should be about the singers..not the judges. We should just focus on their talent. Not giving the judges who has their shot a second chance at stardom.
The show needs to go back to its roots.
It’s reported that Mariaj Carey is in talk to be one of the new judges.
Steven I will miss. Jennifer, not so much.
Puhleeze, she was totally fired for being a greedy, demanding diva. News flash jlo you’re a 40 year old pop-star who can’t sing. . . get over yourself already. Her career will start to falter now that idol has given her the boot. . . and she’ll only be famous for her ever revolving door of men. . . zzzzz
Finally! Whatever, she’s out and I shall start an early happy hour bubbly drinking to her weekly irritating the world! Cheers, all, especially to Kimbob and Lady D who welcomed me to CB sometime ago.
she probably demanded that her boytoy be the replacement for Steven Tyler and the producers weren’t having it
What is she thinking? AI rebooted her carer? With out AI, all she has is gossip about her boy toy.Do her records or movies sell?
if she thinks she’ll go back to being as popular and famous as she was 10 years ago-she’s kidding herself.
Two years was enough it’s time she go back to acting which she does very well. I’m happy Randy is leaving too, his same phrases were getting boring.
This is what happens when you let your baby boyfriend manage your career.
The next move? She will fire his manager, and then she will be forgotten. Again.
Unlike Steven Tyler, she doesn’t have much talent.
Please please let them get Mariah for the job! She is hilariously divalicious.
AHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA! http://www.thewrap.com/tv/article/jennifer-lopez-dumped-idol-after-seeking-raise-17m-exclusive-47706