If you are a contestant on the UK television show The X Factor, you better watch what you say about outspoken judge Simon Cowell. That is apparently an eligibility requirement, as evidenced by some leaked contracts that the contestants had to sign.
The contracts were made public this week and they state that contestants may not verbally disapprove of Cowell in public or on air. Simon got wind of this and is of course denying that he knew of this clause.
“It’s slightly embarrassing when any commercial contract goes out. I wasn’t aware that I was one of the clauses. You can’t be horrible about me? That’s probably the most useless clause in the history of contracts, because everybody does talk horrible about me, and you know what? I don’t care.”
The contracts also spell out a different payout than the show leads the audience members to believe. The winner of the show is to get $1.5 million, when in reality they receive a $225,000 recording advance.
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