Sharon Osbourne Quits “America’s Got Talent”
After being a judge for America’s Got Talent for six seasons, Sharon Osbourne is leaving the show. The news of Osbourne departing from the hit talent show has been up in the air for the past couple of weeks, beginning with a cryptic tweet she sent to fellow judge Howard Stern that read, “My darling @HowardStern, money is not the reason I’m not returning to @nbcagt, it’s because…” That’s all she wrote. Simon Cowell, the show’s producer, tried to negotiate with Osbourne and NBC. Unfortunately, it did not work.
According to the New York Post, Osbourne became furious when NBC notified her about her son, Jack Osbourne, being cut from the upcoming reality show Stars Earn Stripes because he was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis. Osbourne claimed that the producers of the show lied about Jack’s departure in an email that was sent to him only two days before he was scheduled to come into work for the show back in June. Osbourne considers this a discrimination issue and said “it was badly handled.”
Osbourne said Jack was not doing Stars Earn Stripes for the money, but for the experience and being something for him to look forward to after being diagnosed with his condition. Jack claims that he was going to purchase his own insurance policy for the program, but the network declined his request. Stars Earn Stripes producer David Hurwitz said the deal fell through because “the rigors of the show were to intense for him,” even though Hurwitz said they were still “in talks” with Jack since April at a news conference last month.
Osbourne is still under contract with America’s Got Talent, but says that the contract states that she is not allowed to be a judge for another network show for five years. Osbourne said she understands the penalty for leaving the show, but feels that it’s time to move on. Osbourne will finish with the live shows this season, and we here at BuzzerBlog we’ll keep you posted on any new details.
First Pierce, now Sharon. And who knows what will happen to Howie, considering he’s hosting White Elephant this Christmas. That may be a sign of him eventually leaving AGT as well.
What a shame. Pierce, Sharon and Howie were what made me tune into AGT last year on a week-by-week basis. This year, I haven’t been watching it as often, because for some reason, the show didn’t quite seem the same with Howard on the panel. Maybe because it was less funny than last year…
Is White Elephant confirmed to be debuting during Christmas?
I haven’t heard any confirmation of it, but it seems likely based on what happened last year in 2011, when NBC advertised Who’s Still Standing in June and aired it in December.
White Elephant was advertised starting in June of this year, and since it’s a bit of a Christmas theme, with picking boxes and sharing money/prizes with others, it makes sense that it would debut in the Christmas season.
i wonder how much the revolving door of judges is hurting the talent show’s ratings. Paula gone from Idol, then X Factor. All the original X Factor women gone. Hoff, Piers and now Sharon gone from AGT. It certainly doesn’t give off a vibe of stability.
I blame Stern.