The off-again on-again pursuit of Jennifer Lopez to become an American Idol 2011 judge appears to be back on track. Earlier claims of Lopez’s “diva demands” may not have been inaccurate as the current rumor has it that Lopez wanted Fox to give her sight-unseen approval to make whatever movie she wanted along with a television series. Both of those were rejected by Fox and they even forced her to back down on her financial requests:
JLo and Fields did receive the overall Fox deal but with no film/TV commitments. Medina and JLo tried to hold out for the $15M Idol paycheck but couldn’t get it and wound up settling for $12M. “I think it was just positioning,” a source tells me. “In the end, she didn’t turn up her nose up at $12 million. I would have been very surprised if she had walked away. She needs the money.
Say, how much was it that Paula was getting paid? I’m guessing it was a fraction of this cost but still worth a whole lot more. But who knows. Maybe JLo will be a great addition to American Idol. We should know something official soon according to exec-producer Nigel Lythgoe who has promised us news any week now.
Source: Deadline