Last month we learned that both Gabrielle Union and Julianne Hough would not be returning to America’s Got Talent next season. We later learned that Gabrielle was allegedly given the boot (or would it be the X?) because she wouldn’t just sit there and applaud like a robot at racist jokes and questionable acts. It was also reported that she was given nonstop notes about how often her hair changed, which a lot of people took as a pretty obvious microaggression. Lots of people came to Gabrielle’s defense. AGT, Simon Cowell‘s company Syco Entertainment, and NBC’s Fremantle Media, released a collective statement defending themselves, and saying they will work with Gabrielle and “her concerns.” However, Gabrielle does not want to return to the show, so there’s at least one seat to fill and TMZ is saying it may go to Sofia Vergara.
Former judges Howard Stern and Sharon Osbourne both chimed in with their two cents, which was that Simon switches out hot young women while keeping the same tired old dudes around (Howard), and that Simon looks like a dirty old man next to the young women sitting beside him (Sharon). AGT might be attempting to do better, but they’re not exactly moving that far away from the accusation that Simon only puts hot women at the table. Sources tell TMZ that Sofia Vergara is in talks to become a judge.
Sofia met with AGT honchos Wednesday for 2 hours. She was 20 minutes late for the meeting, but that didn’t dissuade the decision-makers. Our sources say Sofia had a big audience over at NBC, from Entertainment Prez Paul Telegdy on down.
I hope Howie Mandel doesn’t mind the possibility of his scalp moisturizer budget being cut in half next season, because Sofia doesn’t come cheap.
TMZ’s sources add that NBC has a few projects in mind for Sofia after Modern Family ends in 2020. NBC thinks AGT would be the best fit for Sofia, but they also approached her with multiple other options, like various dramas or a Spanish-language project (NBC owns Telemundo). The 15th season of AGT is scheduled to begin production in March 2020, with a Summer 2020 premiere date.
Both Simon Cowell and Howie Mandel are staying on as judges.
During this whole situation with Gabrielle, it kind of proved that the decision-makers at America’s Got Talent don’t exactly have a clue. So I’m sure there’s an intern who is already not looking forward to the press release they’ll have to write if 47-year-old Sofia is officially hired. “Here at NBC we heard your criticisms from last season and we took some of them very seriously. So please, give us a big pat on the back for hiring a woman who is almost 50.”
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