Reality Show Contestant Sues Simon Cowell For Being Mean

Becky Bain | July 23, 2010 12:10 pm

According to reports, Simon Cowell is being sued for $3.8 million by a bitter reality show contestant seeking damages for being humiliated on television. If everyone Simon ever insulted on TV sued him, there’s a good chance he wouldn’t be worth $250 million anymore.

Emma Amelia Pearl Czikai appeared on Britain’s Got Talent last May, and suffice to say, she was one of the contestants brought on the show for laughs instead of showcasing how much talent she’s got.

Czikai was interrupted by the “X” buzzing sound twice just a few notes into her performance, and after she was finally able to get a verse out, she criticized the judges for being rude. Cowell criticizes her right back for having “a terrible voice.” The video featuring her performance on the show is not embeddable, but check it out over on YouTube.

In the grand scheme of Simon insults, it was pretty tame, but Czikai thought it was bad enough to get a lawyer and seek damages. A lot of damages.

Czikai is accusing the show, and Cowell, for “exploitation, humiliation, degradation and barbarism”, with a healthy dose of “disability discrimination” to boot. Apparently the show discriminated against her because they didn’t lower the level of the backing music and made her use a microphone she was not familiar with. No, really, that’s what she’s claiming, because we all know with the right microphone she would have become the next Susan Boyle.

Sometimes we feel bad for the people who get critiqued on these types of talent competition shows—and Cowell, among other reality show judges, can sometimes cross the line from delivering blunt honesty to just being rude for the sake of producing good TV. But if you sign up to appear on these shows, you should know what you’re stepping into—public humiliation is the name of the game in reality television. So don’t be surprised if your ego gets shattered instead of inflated by a notorious curmudgeon.

[Hollywood Reporter]

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