Simon Cowell Apologizes for Insulting Comments During ‘American Idol’ Auditions

Simon Cowell admits he may have gone “too far” with some of his American Idol critiques.

The original Idol judge, 66, revealed in an interview with The New York Times published Saturday that he was “sorry” for being “a dick” to some of the people who came through the singing competition show during his tenure from 2002 to 2010.

“I wasn’t trying to be a dick on purpose. All I wanted with these shows was to find successful artists to sign to the label,” Cowell said. “So when all these people were coming in, and they couldn’t sing, I would be like when I used to audition people, and 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.’ “

Cowell noted that the process of shooting Idol auditions didn’t exactly inspire much patience. “I didn’t particularly like audition days, because they’re long and boring,” he confessed. “I would get fed up. And of course, out of a hundred nice comments, what are they going to use? They’re always going to use me in a bad mood. I got that. What can I say? I’m sorry.”

Asked to clarify his apology, Cowell said he was sorry for “just being a dick,” acknowledging that he “changed over time” after being confronted with his insulting comments on the show and realizing he had “probably gone too far.”

“That was then. I’m not proud of it, let’s put it that way,” he added. “I never look at this stuff online, so when I hear about these clips, I’m like, ‘Oh, God.’ But then again, the upside is that it made the shows really popular worldwide.”

Cowell also expressed contrition during a Nov. 24 interview with Rolling Stone, admitting that “every one of us is gonna say at one point, ‘God, I shouldn’t have said that.’”

“But it’s kinder to be really clear to someone who has zero talent. ‘Do not think that if you carry on doing this, something magical is gonna happen and you are gonna become the biggest rock star or pop star in the world, if you can’t sing,’” he said. “The show is supposed to be honest, and I’m not going to bulls—t these people and give them fake hope.”

He added, “If Eric, my son, said, ‘Dad, I want to be a singer,’ and he sang to me and every note was outta tune, I would say, ‘Darling, you can’t sing.’ I wouldn’t lie to him.”