“X Factor” judge L.A. Reid isn’t pulling any punches about becoming music’s next Mr. Nasty, supposedly joking, as new CEO of Epic Records, that the label should be scrubbed of “ugly people.”
Sources say Reid, who started on July 11, allegedly told label executives shortly after, “I don’t want no ugly people working here; I only want good-looking people.”
Employees had been expecting him to discuss his vision for the label’s artists, but he seemed more concerned with the appearance of the staff. “Reid’s thing is keeping it sexy,” another source said.
An industry insider said, “He considers himself an artist, which means he expects to be treated like a VIP. He’s incredibly difficult, and many people are worried about what will happen when he starts on the judging panel for ‘The X Factor.’ ”
Some fear the label could suffer while he devotes much of his time to filming the Fox show, which starts on Sept. 21.
Staffers are also bracing for fireworks on ex-Motown CEO Sylvia Rhone‘s first day with Reid at Epic’s sister label, Portrait. The feuding execs will share Epic’s promotion department. A source said Reid wasn’t happy with her appointment, but Sony CEO Doug Morris told him, “Sylvia is going to get this . . . and there’s nothing you can do about it.”
Reid’s demands were a flashback to his days at Island Def Jam, when he dropped Lady Gaga from the label. According to a source, he told her, “I don’t get you, I don’t get your music,” and that he didn’t think she was good-looking.
Some think Reid will be a “horror show” on “X Factor.” “He’ll definitely be meaner than Simon Cowell,” a source predicted. An “X Factor” rep said, “The excitement certainly continues to grow for ‘X Factor.’ We love L.A., and he’s fantastic on camera.”
Of his “ugly people” comment, a Reid source said, “There is no way he said that,” and it was “completely made up” by someone with an agenda.
A Sony rep declined to comment.