'AGT' Judge Julianne Hough Called Simon Cowell Out for His Sexist Comment During Judge Cuts
Last week, America's Got Talent judge Simon Cowell promised to never "meow" again after Julianne Hough called him out for it.
At one point, she even threatened to spit her drink on Simon, which made the former American Idol judge "take back" his comment.
If the first round of America's Got Talent judge cuts taught Simon Cowell anything, it's that season 14 newbie Julianne Hough is not going to take his taunting.
Last Tuesday night, the former Dancing With the Stars pro called Simon out after she gave feedback to the Emerald Belles, an all-female dance group. When Julianne began to tell them that their routine had "a bit of a high school element to it," Simon leaned into the microphone and said "meow," as if there was a so-called "catfight" about to go down.
Of course, insinuating that women who are in a disagreement with one another are engaging in a "catfight" is sexist (you can read all about why here, if it's not clear). Not to mention, Simon didn't "meow" when Howie Mandel told the performers that he didn't think they "did enough."
Recognizing all of this, Julianne shut Simon down immediately.
“Do not start with the meows,” she warned her fellow AGT judge.
After the Emerald Belles left the stage, Julianne told the rest of the panel — Howie, Gabrielle Union, and guest judge Brad Paisley — to "kick him the next time he meows." Brad asked Julianne if Simon was making the noise to refer to a catfight, to which Julianne replied, "Yeah, like I'm a cat." Realizing the problem, Brad told Simon, "Yeah, you're going to get in trouble."
The camera then showed Julianne jokingly (we think) threatening to spit her drink in Simon's face, which prompted the former American Idol judge to say that he took it back and promise he wouldn't ever say it again.
Unfortunately, this isn't the first time Simon has meowed on the show. Back when Mel B was a judge on AGT, he would frequently pull the same move while the Spice Girl gave her critiques.
Plus, when acting as a judge on Britain's Got Talent, he would do it to his female colleagues, Alesha Dixon and Amanda Holden. Both have spoken out about Simon's meowing and called his behavior "ridiculous."
“Amanda and I can’t say one thing to a female without him making a meowing noise, it’s so annoying and needs to stop," Alesha complained to RadioTimes in 2017. Amanda agreed, adding, "The minute we say we don’t like a female contestant for one reason or another, he thinks we’re being catty."
At the end of the day, we can only hope Julianne's talk with Simon will make him think twice about meowing again. But if he does, Simon better watch out for Julianne.
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