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Simon Cowell Rips 'American Idol' Creator Over 'X Factor' Lawsuit
by Chris Harnick, posted Aug 24th 2011 3:30PM
Why is 'American Idol' creator Simon Fuller suing over 'The X Factor'? Simon Cowell, the man behind 'The X Factor,' is asking the same question.Fuller filed a lawsuit against Fox and 'X Factor' producer Fremantle claiming he is owed an executive producer credit and millions of dollars for the new Fox singing competition.
Cowell, who spent nine seasons judging 'American Idol,' told the Hollywood Reporter he's surprised Fuller is suing. Why? "Because you can't give someone an executive producer's title if they didn't executive produce the show."
"It's like me saying I want to be executive producer on 'The Voice' or 'Project Runway,'" Cowell said.
According to the Hollywood Reporter, Fuller's suit claims that as part of a settlement in a 2004 copyright infringement lawsuit, he is owed a large executive producer fee and credit for 'X Factor.'
"Fox and Fremantle made hundreds of millions of dollars thanks to the creative efforts of Fuller," the suit says. "Now, when it is time to finally perform on these unequivocal promises, Fox and Fremantle refuse to provide Fuller his executive producer credit for Defendants' new television show, 'The X Factor,' and refuse to pay Fuller and executive producer fee 'commesurate with his duties and stature in the entertainment industry.'"
However, Cowell said no such settlement deal was reached. "It's not part of our settlement agreement, it never was. So I was as surprised as anyone."
After Fuller filed the lawsuit, Fox released a statement similar to the comments Cowell is making now.
"Mr. Fuller has not been hired, nor performed any duties, on the U.S. version of 'The X Factor,'" the network said. "His suit seeks payment and credit as an executive producer despite his neither having been approved by the required parties, nor hired, as such. We believe this lawsuit is without merit, and we expect to prevail."
Meanwhile, Fuller's attorney claims that Fox breached the settlement agreement by not admitting they never approved Fuller as an executive producer, something they were obligated to do.
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