Why Every ‘American Idol’ Judge Left the Show
American Idol doesn’t shake up its cast as often as The Voice does — in both its Fox and ABC iterations, Idol even had the same set of judges for a seven-season stretch. But there’s still been turnover on Idol, and judge exits aren’t always as amicable as publicists might have you believe.
With a replacement for Katy Perry coming, below are all the former judges of the show — and what they’ve said about their departures.
Paula Abdul
Abdul was the first one of the original Idol judges to leave, doing so after Season 8. “The truth is, it was time for me to leave,” she told Entertainment Weekly in 2016. “I’d never had the same job for eight years. I felt that there were changes happening, and it didn’t feel like the same show. I needed to go back and do things I wanted to do, and being in that contract with the show didn’t allow me to do many things.”
Simon Cowell
Cowell, who left the show after Season 9, told HollywoodLife in 2019 that he took issue with the show’s age limit and even its title. “How can you say, ‘You can’t be a star [because of your age],’” Simon said. “And I found the word ‘Idol’ obnoxious, to be honest with you. And why isn’t a 35-year-old as great as an 18-year-old? I just got to the point where this is not real, which is why I move[d] on.”
Ellen DeGeneres
DeGeneres also left after Season 9, her only season on the show, saying that the show “didn’t feel like the right fit” for her. “It was a difficult decision to make, but my work schedule became more than I bargained for,” she added, per People. “I also realized this season that while I love discovering, supporting, and nurturing young talent, it was hard for me to judge and sometimes hurt their feelings.”
Kara DioGuardi
DioGuardi was let go from Idol at the same time, as the show wooed Steven Tyler and Jennifer Lopez for a rebooted panel with only three judges again. “No one even gave me a heads-up that my job was in jeopardy,” the songwriter wrote in her memoir, Helluva High Note, per Rolling Stone. “In fact, just two weeks before I was speaking to an executive producer about the upcoming season’s schedule.”
Steven Tyler
After judging Idol for Seasons 10 and 11, Tyler departed the judges’ panel to return to music. “I’ve decided it’s time for me to let go of my mistress American Idol before she boils my rabbit,” he said, per Deadline, in a reference to Fatal Attraction. “I strayed from my first love, Aerosmith, and I’m back.”
Jennifer Lopez
Lopez also left the show after a two-season stint that ended with Season 11. “Something had to give, and that’s, I think, where I am right now,” she told Idol host Ryan Seacrest on his radio show, per Rolling Stone. “I honestly feel that the time has come, that I have to get back to doing the other things that I do that I’ve put kind of on hold.” (Lopez did, however, return for Season 13 through 15.)
Randy Jackson
Idol’s sole surviving original judge finally left the show after Season 12. “It’s been a life-changing opportunity, but I am looking forward to focusing on my company, Dream Merchant 21, and other business ventures,” Jackson told E! News at the time.
Mariah Carey
Carey’s PR firm announced her exit after one season at the end of Season 12, saying she would be launching a world tour. Asked for comment by The Hollywood Reporter, a rep for Carey said the singer had a “jam-packed” schedule. But in a 2015 radio interview, per HuffPost, Carey said Idol was the “worst experience” of her life and that she was frustrated to have been pitted against Nicki Minaj in a “non-existent feud.”
Nicki Minaj
Just hours after Carey’s announcement, Minaj said she, too, was leaving the panel after just one season. “Thank you, American Idol, for a life-changing experience!” she wrote on Twitter, now X. “Wouldn’t trade it for the world! Time to focus on the music!” (She later said on Ellen that Idol was “a great learning experience,” but she wouldn’t go back.)
Keith Urban & Harry Connick Jr.
Urban and Connick joined Lopez in the last seasons of Idol on Fox. Urban joined the show in Season 12, and Connick linked up with the competition a season later. That trio stayed on until the original series finale at the end of Season 15.
Katy Perry
Before Season 22 got going, Perry announced it would be her last bout on the rebooted Idol, which she had judged alongside Luke Bryan and Lionel Richie since its ABC debut in 2018. The pop star explained on Jimmy Kimmel Live! that she needed to “feel the pulse of [her] own beat” and wanted to “go see the world and maybe bring new music.”
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