Is Cheryl Cole's Firing From US X Factor a Media Hoax?

Was Cheryl really sacked?

Unless you went to Cabo and had no internet access for the past few days, then you've heard (hopefully from me first) that British pop star Cheryl Cole has been fired from her judging position on the American edition of X Factor. The shocking decision to sack the beauty comes three weeks after the announcement that she was hired, and days after she was last seen at the auditions.

The report originated from the reliable blog TMZ, and spread like wildfire. Nearly every news outlet, even the New York Times, was reporting the news, only citing TMZ's original post. They claimed that Cheryl was sacked because of her accent and the supposed poor chemistry she had with other judges, Paula Abdul in particular.

What is particularly confusing about this mess is that no one, and I mean no one is actually able to confirm from official sources, like FOX or Simon Cowell. Calls to set the record straight through Twitter were ignored. No one is delivering any information, despite the continuation of the auditions, this time in Dallas.

While reports from Britain claim Cheryl is back on their side of the pond, no one, except the usual suspect sources, is offering any details about why she was fired, and what her future plans are.

The silence regarding such a hot button topic makes me wonder whether this isn't a clever ruse on Simon Cowell's part to drum up interest for his new show.



I don't think it's a coincidence that this news broke during the American Idol finale, and has effectively stolen the show's media thunder. It's also fishy that there has been no confirmation or denial from any official camp about this news, especially considering how its been covered.

Simon's friend and singer Sinitta told the media that Cheryl could still be on the show, since there has been no news coming from "the horse's mouth", being Simon.

Even though the concerns about Cheryl's accent have been widely reported, FOX ultimately signed her to a contract, which was reportedly worth $2.1 million. It would look pretty foolish, and an ultimate loss for the network, to have to buy Cheryl out of her contract within a month, especially when so much footage has already been filmed of the auditions.

While it can be argued that the network is weighing their options before making a formal announcement, it's too big of a news story to not receive any kind of comment, not even the typical "no comment".

My theory? Simon is testing America's response to Cheryl the best way possible: through sympathy. Anyone familiar with Cheryl Cole knows that her status as British national treasure was cemented through her series of unfortunate events, starting with her divorce from cheating husband Ashley Cole. That tied in with her sympathetic, Paula-like role as judge of the British version of X Factor made the country fall in love with her.

I believe Simon, and FOX for that matter, are feeling out the situation to see how interested people really are. If the media coverage and the responses on forums and Twitter, I think they may be pleased.

I am fairly sure that this is just a big publicity stunt (at Cheryl's expense) and she is still a member of the judging panel. If not, then I feel horribly for Cheryl and shame on Simon for not fighting for her.