Cheryl Cole Suing FOX’s “X Factor”
Safe to say Cheryl Cole is still a little sore about being sacked from The X Factor?
Don’t let the dimples and teased hair fool you, the former girl grouper knows how to hold a grudge. Case in point: In an 11-page lawsuit filed in California Superior Court on Friday, Cole demands a $ 2.3 million payout from the producers of the FOX talent show.
In 2011, Simon Cowell dropped the Girls Aloud frontwoman as a judge on the show because producers feared Americans wouldn’t understand her prominent Geordie accent. Cheryl had been banking on the gig to help her “break” the American entertainment market; she was devastated.
The singer reportedly had a pay-or-play contract for two seasons with The X Factor. Cole was paid $ 1.8 million for the first season (though she never appeared onscreen), but her lawsuit against Los Angeles-based Blue Orbit Productions claims that her contract entitles her to be paid for a second season as well.
She’s now demanding the remainder of her agreed salary plus the promised wardrobe, stylist and living expenses. Cheryl also expects Blue Orbit to foot the bill for first-class, round-trip airline tickets between London and Los Angeles and for the cost of her personal security.
Simon hasn’t commented on the suit, but the music titan has stood by his decision to fire his old friend and hire former Pussycat Doll Nicole Scherzinger instead. In a 2011 interview with CNN’s Piers Mogan, Cowell said:
“I took the view along with a few other people that she would be more comfortable back in the UK. That’s what you have to do when you produce — you have to make decisions in the moment and I take full responsibility for it.”
