A shocking new report claims that America’s Got Talent is “in turmoil” over budget concerns related to its celebrity judging panel. If the show cannot afford to pay its stars, could we expect to see a whole new panel next season?
According to a new report from Life & Style magazine, AGT is struggling to find the budget to renew the multimillion-dollar contracts of its famous judges — Heidi Klum, Howie Mandel, and Sofia Vergara. This could lead to a cast shakeup.
“The future of the show is in turmoil and the brutal bottom line is that they don’t have the budget they used to have to afford these people,” a source told the magazine. “Simon [Cowell] is very clear the audiences tune in to see the acts, not the judges. It’s very possible he could shake things up and hire all new players to sit at the table with him!”
The source added that AGT “needs to cut back,” but the current judges “won’t come cheap.” This could mean that the show will have to hire “C-list talent” to judge the next season if they can’t afford to pay the current stars what they expect to make.
The insider told the magazine that Cowell is “a businessman first,” so he’s willing to make cuts in order to keep the show on the air and making a profit. They added, “Everything is up in the air right now.”
The fact that there are budget concerns surrounding the AGT judging panel begs the question of just how much the show’s judges are actually making. As it turns out, quite a lot of that money is going to former Modern Family star Sofia Vergara.
Life & Style reported earlier this year that Vergara is making $10 million per season, which is reportedly five times more than the salaries of her fellow judges Howie Mandel and Heidi Klum — despite Vergara being a newer addition to the show.
“There’s no getting around that Sofia’s star has dimmed since she left her sitcom,” a source told the magazine at the time. “The producers can’t justify that salary anymore!”
Does this mean that Vergara could be the first judge to lose her spot at the table next season? We’ll have to wait and see what happens. What do you think? Would you prefer a whole new set of judges? Let us know in the comments below.
Words by:
Jill O'Rourke Jill O’Rourke is a contributor at Talent Recap, writing news stories and recaps for shows like ‘AGT,’ ‘The Voice,’ and ‘American Idol.’ She graduated from the University of Georgia with a degree in English and Film Studies, and has been writing about pop culture since 2012, with previous bylines at Crushable and A Plus. Jill spends her free time binge-watching sitcoms and daydreaming about life as a hobbit
