America's Got Talent may as well be called America's Got Drama, based on the sketchy
things that tend to go on behind the scenes. The NBC hit has seen its share of feuds, replacements,
and shocking allegations. Here are some shady things you may not know about America's Got
Talent.
Nick Cannon, who had hosted America's Got Talent since 2009, angered network execs with
a crack he made about NBC taking away his, quote, "black card" during a Showtime comedy
special in 2017. According to TMZ, NBC higher-ups reportedly believed speaking negatively of
the network was a violation of his contract.
Sources claimed that network execs considered firing Cannon, but ultimately decided against
it. However, Cannon quit the show just days later, with sources telling TMZ he felt he
was treated differently than other celebs who'd previously made jokes about their networks.
At the time, he wrote on Facebook,
"After days of deliberating over some extremely disappointing news that I was being threatened
with termination by executives because of a comedy special that was only intended to
bring communities closer together, I was to be punished for a joke."
Cannon told Yahoo! Entertainment,
"It was a freedom of speech process and me standing firm for my own beliefs and culturally
who I am...And they wanted me to shape up and get in line and watch my choice of words
or how I speak about the network...I told them, 'You can't fire a boss. I quit!'"
In November 2019, Variety reported that Season 14 judge Gabrielle Union had complained about
a racially charged joke from guest Jay Leno that April. Though Union allegedly "urged
producers to report" the incident, it was supposedly never brought to HR, but the joke
was cut from the show's broadcast when it aired months later. Union also reportedly
expressed concerns over a racially insensitive act from a contestant during auditions, which
was also cut from the broadcast.
However, insiders claimed these incidents were just some of the many that contributed
to a "toxic culture" on the AGT set. Alleging that Union and Julianne Hough were both criticized
for their appearances, sources claimed that Union was singled out multiple times because
her hairstyles were considered, quote, "too black" for the show's audience. Hough denied
the claims, while an NBC insider said the appearance notes both women received were
for "hair continuity" purposes.
Hough and Union were both let go from the show after a single season.
Sharon Osbourne, who judged America's Got Talent from 2007 to 2012, spoke out after
Union's exit and accused producers of sexism in both casting and wages. During a December
2019 episode of The Talk, she said,
"It is a boys' club. The boys take care of each other, and the women are not paid as
much as the men."
After pointing out that she was on the show before Howie Mandel and that AGT's ratings
were better during her tenure than when Simon Cowell joined the panel, Osbourne noted how
Cowell and fellow judge L.A. Reid always worked alongside younger, attractive women on The
X Factor USA. She said,
"I was open, I told L.A. Reid, and I told Simon, it's nothing I wouldn't say to their
face: 'You look like two dirty old men.'"
"They looked, the guys looked, like two high rollers in Vegas who picked up a couple of
kids."
Osbourne also alleged that Mandel got better non-monetary perks than she did, including
private jet flights, but noted that she held no ill will toward Mandel personally. As for
the network?
"NBC can kiss my ass."
Howard Stern is another former America's Got Talent judge who's had some words for Simon
Cowell. In 2015, the infamous Sony hack revealed that Cowell lobbied NBC to hire him to replace
Stern on the show, according to the New York Daily News. Fast forward to August 2019, when
Stern lashed out at Cowell on his radio show about the hiring and firing mess. According
to Radar Online, he said,
"He had a campaign behind my back, which I wouldn't have known if the [North] Koreans
hadn't hacked Sony. They exposed these emails he had going, 'We can get rid of Stern and
I'll work for so much cheaper.' And by the way, if I had really wanted that job, then
I would've been pissed. But I just find him sleazy and he is a liar."
After Union's unceremonious exit from AGT, Stern accused Cowell of being sexist. Claiming
that Cowell was behind Union's termination, Stern speculated that the current lineup of
male judges wasn't likely to change, according to Deadline. Stern alleged,
"He has set it up that the men stay, no matter how old they are, no matter how fat they are,
no matter how ugly they are, no matter [how] talentless they are. But what he manages to
do on all his shows is he constantly replaces the hot chicks with hotter chicks and younger
chicks. Which is so obvious."
"Two seasons in a row the female judges being fired while Simon and Howie soldier on."
During a January 2020 interview on the Today show, Terry Crews, who became the host in
season 14, was asked about America's Got Talent's ongoing toxic set allegations, and he said,
"I can't speak for sexism because I'm not a woman, but I can speak on any racism comments.
That was never my experience. In fact, it was the most diverse place I have ever been
in my 20 years of entertainment."
Gabrielle Union, of course, didn't take too kindly to his remarks, tweeting that she had
"multiple witnesses" to back up her case. Alluding that Crews tried to, quote, "throw
[her] under the bus," she later claimed that he'd lied, before following up with more tweets
about the alleged lack of diversity behind the scenes, even in the hair and makeup departments.
Following Union's response and some subsequent social media backlash, Crews apologized in
a series of tweets, writing that he needed to, quote, "acknowledge the pain of other
people." He added, in part,
"[Gabrielle,] I want you to know it was never my intention to invalidate your experience,
but that is what I did. I apologize...You are a role model to the entire black community
and in my desire to be professionally neutral as your co-worker, I should have at the very
least understood you just needed my support."
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