She’ll always be known as the first (and arguably best) winner of the hit talent show American Idol, but there was a time when Kelly Clarkson wanted nothing to do with the show that made her famous. But when Kelly wanted to appear on American Idol a few weeks ago to perform her new single, “My Life Would Suck Without You,” it came with a condition: she had to apologize to AI judge Simon Cowell, along with other show executives, for dissing the show in the past.
Kelly Clarkson has come crawling back to Simon Cowell.
The Season 1 American Idol winner performed her new single “My Life Would Suck Without You” on the March 11 show – but Simon and other AI execs wouldn’t approve her appearance until she apologized for slighting them in the past.
“American Idol made Kelly a star, but she’s tried to distance herself from the show,” said a source close to the show. “Kelly has appeared on Idol when she’s needed to promote her music, but has acted embarrassed to be associated with the show when she didn’t need a career boost.
“Because of Kelly’s lack of loyalty, Simon has always felt that Kelly bit the hand that fed her.”
Simon called out the former Texas cocktail waitress for refusing to let Season 5 contestants sing her songs.
“No matter how talented Kelly Clarkson is, she would not be in the position she’s in now without winning this show,” Simon complained in an interview. “It’s a shame.”
Kelly, 26, returned to Idol two seasons after that bitter controversy, but Simon continued to hold a grudge, say sources.
“After her last controversial album, My December, Kelly felt she needed to return to Idol to promote her new album, All I Ever Wanted. Kelly went with hat in hand and apologized for her part in the differences they had,” the source said.
[From The National Enquirer print version, April 6, 2009]
I can see why Kelly Clarkson and other artists would want to appear on the show, as American Idol continues to pull in monster ratings, even in its 7th season. And I can also understand why Idol producers would want to clear the air with Kelly. Like it or not, Idol made her a superstar. I think the show’s producers have learned their lesson since their conflict with Kelly- more recent winners and contestants such as Carrie Underwood, Chris Daughtry and David Cook have all fallen in line with Idol and if they do have any negative thought about their time on the show, they’ve learned to keep them quiet.
Here’s Kelly in New York City on March 12th. Images thanks to INF News and Features.
Idol got TONS of watchers when Kelly was competing — and advertisers. The show’s ego was just hurt. They used her just as she used them, to get what they needed, financially. Idol needs to get over themselves. I smell a corporate bully.
Uh Kelly sang Never Again the lead single from My December on the American Idol finale so why would Kelly have to apologize before they let her come back? There was a time she tried to distance herself from AI but that was during Breakaway when she didn’t thank AI when she won a couple Grammys and she initially refused to let them use any of her songs (she backed down from that). But she’s promoted every other one of her albums on AI. Like she’s said she’s not stupid enough to give up the chance to sing in front of millions of people.
I can understand not wanting to only be known as the “American Idol Girl” and wanting a bit of distance from it. Actors do that all the time. For example 7th Heaven alumnae Jessica Beil. I also feel that American Idol should thank their lucky stars that Kelly won and gave the show creedance. If Justin Guarini had won I don’t think the show would be what it is today.
Never a good idea to bite the hand that fed you, whether you like that hand or not. Nobody would ever have heard of Kelly if not for AI, so yeah, I can see where an apology was in order. Doesn’t matter if it was sincere or not, and really, it should have been sincere, but it was the right thing to do. Ever notice how the right thing to do is normally the hardest thing to do?
It’s always good for a laugh when people don’t have their facts right. kelly never refused to let Season 5 use her songs, Kellie Pickler auditioned with SUBG BEFORE the controversey even became public. Kelly’s management was negotiating a fair market value for the rights to the songs, just like ANY artist’s management would. the producers of Idol even said that Simon spoke out of turn. There have been 7 seasons of idol, of those Kelly has appeared on 4. during 4 no previous idols appeared, during 5 and 7 she was on tour and unavailable. and then there is the actual, you know, facts, that kelly has always had great praise for Idol during every interview.
FYI Kelly had no control over clearing Since U Been Gone because she didn’t write it.
Well, Mandy you must find yourself very funny. This is Idol’s 8th season, not their 7th.
Whether Kelly had to apologize or not, I think she should appreciate how much Idol has done for her. Look at how successful Carrie Underwood has becomea and she’s always been proud to be associated with the show.
Stunner you are totally wrong Kelly is appreciative of Idol. No one is more prouder of where she came from than herself. But it does seem like Carrie still needs Idol to make her own unlike Kelly who doesn’t. Kelly has never said one bad thing about coming from Idol and she never will. That’s now how she rolls. If she “wasn’t” appreciative she wouldn’t have came back twice during season 6 and the other day. And the reason she didn’t come back during 4 and 5 was b/c she was on tour or working extremely hard on a album. If she didn’t let them sing her songs Lisa Tucker wouldn’t have sung “Because of You” during season 5. And can we really get over the whole Kelly forgetting to thank Idol when she won her Grammy. That was three years ago people move on now. The reason that she probably didn’t thank Idol was probably because she was in total shock that she won a Grammy and beat greats such as Paul McCartney, Mariah Carey. It’s kind of like when Jennifer Aniston forgot to thank Brad when she won her Golden Globe. It wasn’t on purpose it was probably the same reason as Kelly, she was in total shock and when you are shock you kind of forget things. Idol wouldn’t be today if it weren’t for Kelly, even Simon has said Idol has a lot to be thankful for Kelly and Kelly wasn’t lucky to win Idol,Idol was lucky to find her. This such a BS article.
Easy, tiger. I never said Kelly wasn’t appreciative, I said she should be.
And I disagree with your Carrie needs Idol comment. Carrie’s won multiple Country Music Association awards, has sold millions of albums, and has become a member of the Grand Ole Opry. I think she’s doing just fine. I really like Kelly and almost all the past contestants. I simply think they should all appreciate what the show has done for their careers, that’s all (again, didn’t say Kelly they didn’t appreciate it).
SNORT, like Simon would ever apologise for something as trivial as hurting someone’s feelings. What a ass.
I wonder if Kelly did apologise or if AI jsut putting out the story was sufficient?
EVERYone knows Kelly Clarkson was the first Idol winner and EVERYone knows American Idol because of her. I am guessing they just want future ‘contestants’ to show what Simon et al consider proper respect in their eyes, and honestly I’ve never heard of Kelly C dissing the show. They are very controlling with the way they handle that show, just an opinion.
simon cowell is less the hand that feeds people and more the hand that cracks the whip… that guy is so malicious and expects people to bow to his greatness… well, maybe he should try being a little nicer.
just because someone helped one find success, doesn’t mean the experience was pleasant. i can see why being under simon’s tutelage could cause one to hate life…
Sorry there Stunner, i miss underdstud. No hard feelings there 🙂
This is bull. Kelly wasn’t biting the hand that fed her, because she fed the Idol as much as it fed her!
American Idol got the boost it needed to succeed in the US from Kelly, not Justin, winning. Kelly got the boost she needed to be a gold/platinum artist.
Neither owes the other ANYTHING. Kelly owes as much as to Idol owes to HER. If anything, Simon the douche should be kissing her ass and tell the world how much he loves Kelly Clarkson.
P.S. I ain’t no Kelly fan. I think both her and Carrie (and all the other Idol winners) are lame, but let’s call a spade a spade. There was nothing inevitable about Idol’s success, and Kelly gave Idol the respect it needed to be more than a fad.
Oh, come on, please. None of the winners would be anything but lounge singers except for AI. KC was not instantly a star – she did not make AI what it is – none of them did. Do any of us care if any ‘big’ star comes from it. There is a big hell to that no! We watch it week by week because it is entertaining, and the boost these singers get is immeasurable.
Now we just need Cowell to apologize for having been born.
Kelly gets asked about Idol more than any other participant that has ever graced that stage, and that’s because she was the first winner ever. That said, she has always been gracious when answering the media’s questions about Idol and has never had a negative word to say about the show, the judges or the producers. In fact she has always been very positive about the show and the experience and said that she’s thankful that Idol was the way she go into the business because she got to sing what she wanted, wear what she wanted, and be herself. I don’t believe you when you say she had to apologize to Simon. She has no reason to.
This story doesn’t make sense. Kelly did Idol twice a couple of years ago, Idol Gives Back and the finale. If she was going to apologize they would have asked for it then, not now.
Kelly is REALLY lucky that she is the first winner, so the show is invested in parading her in front of the audience every year. If anyone else pulled half of the crap she did, they wouldn’t have been allowed on the Idol stage ever again.
“If anyone else pulled half of the crap she did, they wouldn’t have been allowed on the Idol stage ever again.”
Could you give examples of all this crap she supposedly pulled. There are only 2 things people constantly bring up when they talk about Kelly dissing AI:
1. She forgot to thank AI in her Grammy speech.
2. Her songs not being allowed to be sung on Idol, which in the end turned out to be untrue and was proven to be untrue by Nigel Lithgow.
So what is all the crap she pulled again?
While I do agree that you should never bite off the hand that feeds you…it’s been 7 years people!!!
True, We may not have known about Kelly had it not been for idols. But she earned her title. They never gave it to her. She has worked hard to keep herself in the business…to remain relevant. AI needs to get over them selves.
Just because they gave her that first break doesn’t mean they have any rights over her. It doesn’t mean she should always be grovelling to AI.
I have posted http://www.celebitchy.com/43519/kelly_clarkson_had_to_apologize_to_simon_cowell at Stumbleupon.com so my co-workers can read it as well. I simply used %BLOGTITLE% as the entry title in my post, as I figured it would be a great way to spread the word about this awesome post. Please email me back at Pointdexter5604@gmail.com if there is anything else I can do to help.