Major blow to “American Idol” judge Randy Jackson, who has sat on the panel since the show began. Page Six has confirmed that the “AI” veteran is currently off the judges’ table and execs have offered him a smaller role as a mentor.
The music producer is none too pleased.
“Producers definitely wanted Randy off the judging panel, and proposed to make him a mentor,” a source tells us. “Not surprisingly, Randy wasn’t too happy about that and tried to negotiate a bigger role. The situation has not been sorted out.”
However, with Sean “Diddy” Combs and Kanye West out of the picture, Jackson could continue sitting in his spot if producers don’t sign another big male star to judge the reality show juggernaut.
“At the moment the show is in disarray, as they still need to sign another male star to the panel,” the source says.
It looks like “Idol” will be sticking with the new four judge formula. Nicki Minaj’s contract is almost signed, but as Page Six revealed, her deal with Pepsi is holding it up. Execs are hoping to go country, and are still in talks with Keith Urban and Brad Paisley to fill out the panel.