‘American Idol’ Judge Drama: Mariah Carey Mad About Nicki Minaj, Kanye West In Talks

We have no idea how much of the non-stop hubbub regarding the potential American Idol judges is actually real or just Fox execs leaking rumors in order to get people consistently talking about the show during its off season. But hey, gossip is half the fun, right? And today’s latest includes TMZ reporting that Mariah Carey isn’t so thrilled to have her “Up Out My Face” collaborator Nicki Minaj added to the judges’ lineup, while Idol producers have also reached out to Kanye West to join the panel. And — surprise! — Yeezy is interested in the gig.

West is reportedly interested in filling in one of the two-to-three open slots on the panel, but he’s “on the fence” as he’s still deciding whether Idol is “in his wheelhouse” or not. (Honestly? It’s really not. Can you picture Kanye willing to put up watching those terrible Ford commercials without launching into a Twitter rant?)

There’s also the money they’d have to pay West — TMZ’s sources say that Fox would “at least match Mariah’s salary”, which is $18 million. So that’s $36 million for only two judges, and you can bet your bottom dollar Nicki Minaj — if she does indeed become a judge — isn’t going to come cheap.

She’s also not going to come easy, if Mariah has any say in it. The goss blog also reports that Carey is furious that they approached Minaj, since the diva was under the impression she would be the only woman on the panel. Plus, Mimi is allegedly angry that Nicki (29) is much younger than she is (42). “We’re told hung up the phone when she was told Nicki was the top candidate,” TMZ claims.

If Nicki, Mimi and Yeezy all join the Idol panel, how are they going to find time to show any auditions in between all the ego-flexing of these three larger-than-life artists?