‘America’s Got Talent’: Simon Cowell wanted to replace Howard Stern … with himself

Somehow, the Sony hack is still uncovering all sorts of crazy surprises. The latest one? That Simon Cowell apparently wanted to appoint himself the latest “America’s Got Talent” judge, and dispatch of the “King of All Media” Howard Stern along the way.

This is a topic that Stern himself discussed this week on his Sirius XM show, and he honestly did not seem to be that upset about it. Why? It probably has to do with the fact that NBC seemingly had his back the entire time, even though Cowell is an executive producer on the show and owns part of it. This just goes to show you that he does not have unlimited power.

Ultimately, we really cannot blame NBC much for this anyway, since Simon is played out now as a TV personality. He uses many of the same cliches again and again (“you’re a little star”), and there has at times become a sense of awkwardness with him on a panel alongside people who are in some ways working for him. We feel like this is what made the American version of “The X Factor” so awkward – do you really want to disagree with someone who’s kind of your boss?

We’re not going to say that Howard is always a perfect judge, but he is typically honest and you know that he is not going to tell you he really likes something unless he genuinely does. He and Piers Morgan remain to us our favorite judges in the show’s history, though we have also enjoyed Sharon Osbourne, Mel B, and at times Howie Mandel over the years. (We do miss the love-hate relationship between Howie and Piers.)

The new season of “America’s Got Talent” premieres this summer, and you can head over here to get some other news related to the show. Also, sign up here to get some other TV updates on all we cover via our CarterMatt Newsletter. (Photo: NBC.)