Lionel Richie Calls Judging ‘American Idol’ With Katy Perry, Luke Bryan ‘Babysitting’

Lionel Richie may be rethinking his position on the American Idol judging panel!

The iconic musician is finding himself at the butt of many of the pranks played by fellow judges Katy Perry and Luke Bryan, whom he jokingly compared to children during Sunday’s episode of the ABC singing competition.

After having his chair messed with, causing him to take a dive beneath the judges’ table, Richie took to the confessional camera to jokingly plead for help.

“Has the ink dried on the contract?” he asked. “I mean has anybody got any idea what I have gotten myself into?”

Then, after falling victim to a well-placed whoopie cushion to the giggles of Bryan and Perry, he reiterated his comments.

“It is out of control,” he said. “I thought it was going to be judging. I thought it was going to be mentoring. I had no idea it was going to be babysitting.”

As the pop singer and country star break down over the sound of the whoopie cushion, Richie revealed that he definitely feels like the authority figure on the panel.

“I mean Luke and Katy are like two mischievous kids trying to figure out what they can do to the substitute teacher,” he said.

This dynamic was clear to Richie from the start, he revealed in an interview with Variety prior to the show’s premiere this month.

“I found out early on that I’m the adult in the room,” Richie said. “And I find it hilarious, some of the things Katy and Luke say that I would never say on national television, and it comes out of their mouths so easily because that’s their generation. I’m a little bit more guarded on what I’m saying. I think their job is to see if they can get me to faint before the show is over.”

Rob Mills, SVP of alternative series, specials and late night for ABC confirmed the dynamic to the publication. “I think that of the three of them, Lionel is probably the most mature in the room. That said, he has a wicked sense of humor and can be just as playful as Katy and Luke. In the third episode, the judges all give each other gifts and Lionel gives Katy and Luke an Afro wig and mustache.”

American Idol airs Sundays at 8 p.m. ET on ABC.

Photo credit: ABC