Mariah Carey and Nicki Minaj both took to Twitter to announce their departures from “American Idol” and both of the feuding judges tried to cover up the real reason they were leaving the show – producers were about to fire them.
The only original judge left, Randy Jackson, started the trend when he announced his departure from the show this season, amid rumors that he was also going to be cut from the judges’ panel.
It seems that neither Carey nor Minaj wanted to be publicly fired either, so instead they gracefully bowed out and gave other reasons for why they wouldn’t be continuing on with the show.
Mariah Carey insisted that it was her world tour keeping her from returning.
“W/ global success of “#Beautiful” (#1 in 30+ countries so far) @mariahcarey confirms world tour & says goodbye 2 Idol,” her publicity team tweeted on Thursday afternoon.
We’re also pretty sure that the powerhouse songstress will continue to mention her No.1 song, since she got into a huge feud with Minaj on “American Idol” about it.
Fox and Idol producers released a statement congratulating Carey on her success and thanking her for taking the time to be on the show.
“Mariah Carey is a true global icon – one of the most accomplished artists on the planet – and we feel extremely fortunate that she was able to bring her wisdom and experience to the ‘American Idol’ contestants this season,” they said in a public statement. “We know she will remain an inspiration to ‘Idol’ hopefuls for many seasons to come.”
It wasn’t long before Minaj tweeted to her Barbs that she wouldn’t be returning to the show next season either.
“Thank you American Idol for a life changing experience,” she tweeted. “Wouldn’t trade it for the world! Time to focus on the Music!!! Mmmmmuuuaahh!!!”
Both of the ladies’ departure announcements come after several reports claimed producers were already on track to fire the entire panel of judges.
If the ladies wanted to create the appearance of leaving completely by their own will, they might have wanted to announce their departure before producers had already begun to seek their replacements.
Before either of the divas sent out their tweets, “American Idol” producers had signed on Jennifer Hudson for the next season and were looking to grab Kelly Clarkson as well, although she declined the offer.
The network announced that its new plan was to create a judges’ panel of “American Idol” alums and reports suggest that producers have their eyes on Clay Aiken and Adam Lambert.
Meanwhile, Keith Urban recently told HollywoodLife that he would love to return to the show for another season, but it is uncertain if his is the next name on the producers’ chopping block.
His future on the show certainly seems bleak since he obviously is not an alum and rumor has it that the show is ready to return to the original set up of only three judges.
