Simon Cowell comes under fire as podcast questions 'inauthentic' show
Simon Cowell is under fire in his latest interview during the promo blitz for his new Netflix show.The music mogul has created boyband December 10 after a nationwide hunt which was followed by Netflix cameras for the docuseries Simon Cowell: The Next Act.The boyband have released their first track this week, with Simon taking on a long list of interviews to promote his new project.But during an appearance on the hit pop culture podcast The Rest Is Entertainment, the TV talent show judge, famously once dubbed Mr Nasty, met his match in journalist Marina Hyde and TV producer and novelist Richard Osman.Marina and Richard didn't Simon off the hook as they questioned the authenticity of his Netflix series.'You're so brilliant at controlling narrative and understanding what people want and understanding how to give it to them that I wondered if you exec-ing that show meant that we missed out on some genuine authenticity?' Richard asked. Simon Cowell was under fire in his latest interview during the promo blitz for his new Netflix show - appearing on Richard Osman and Marina Hyde's podcast The Rest Is Entertainment'There are a number of moments where I'm thinking this is much more X Factor than I thought it was going to be,' he added. Simon was adamant though, defending his latest show which also shows footage of his home life with fiancée Lauren Silverman and their son Eric, 11.'What you see is what happened, and there weren't any second takes. Pinky thummy. I didn't,' he insisted. He doubled down at the close of the interview, telling Richard that his questions about the authencity were 'kind of annoying'.'It really was authentic actually, to the point when we have magic acts on Britain's Got Talent we genuinely don't know what they're going to do and what's going to happen. And then it goes out and apparently people go, oh, it was rigged, the judges knew...We don't!'Marina meanwhile dug in, asking if Simon regretted airing footage of the 'less talented' auditions 'in that slight X Factor theatre of cruelty way where we just get to laugh at them because they're useless and you get to be quite rude to them?''That is the the reality with auditions,' insisted Simon. 'I've always gone with about half a percent, if you're lucky, the people you see are going to be good.'The podcast, which took questions from listeners, also asked about his commitment to duty of care protocals for the various pop acts who have been under his wing over the past three decades. The music mogul has created boyband December 10 after a nationwide hunt which was followed by Netflix cameras for the docuseries Simon Cowell: The Next Act Marina and Richard didn't Simon off the hook as they questioned the authenticity of his Netflix series, which also shows footage of his home life with fiancée Lauren Silverman 'I did everything I possibly could, but not everything worked out the way we wanted to,' Simon conceded. 'The vast majority of people who came on the show, they made a lot of money and got what they wanted, which was fame.''Certain people they've just got it in for me, and there's nothing I can do about that. We put someone on the show, they signed up to what they knew the show was about.''Over time, whether it's discussions about mental health and and duty of care, that has become much more something we think about, talk about and acknowledge,' he explained.As a mother of teenagers, Marina wanted to know if Simon thought the teens he has signed over the years, including One Direction and members of his new group December 10 'can consent meaningfully to the risks and the rewards of that lifestyle?' Marina meanwhile dug in, asking if Simon regretted airing footage of the 'less talented' auditions 'in that slight X Factor theatre of cruelty way' As a mother of teenagers, Marina wanted to know if Simon thought the teens he has signed over the years, including members of his new group 'can consent meaningfully to the risks'Yeah, I do,' he replied. 'I completely hear what you're saying, on the other side sometimes at that age there is a window which is you have got to just take the opportunity.''And these boys, they were young, most of them, and it was like, if they don't get this chance now, what are the chances for them outside of this?'The trio did have a shared laugh about the band name choice for December 10, which Simon explained was the group's decision to mark the anniversary of their Netflix show launching. Giggling, Marina told him 'we find it very funny because it sounds like a sort of South American kind of Marxist terrorist organisation.''Yeah, well, now you mention it, I wish you hadn't put that thought in my head,' Simon admitted. 'On December 10th, don't say it three times in the bathroom mirror,' Marina quipped. The Next Act is available to stream on Netflix now. The Rest Is Entertainment is available on Spotify.
