L.A. Reid, the CEO of Epic Records, will definitely not be reprising his role as a judge in the talent competition, "The X Factor." In the question and answer portion of a Pepsi-sponsored event in Cannes, France the former "The X Factor" judge disclosed how much he loathed the position he held in the show for two seasons, according to Billboard.
Describing the experience as the "worst thing" he ever did in his career, Reid shared that he still had fond memories of the show. "The first season, yes, I had a great time," he revealed, referring to the first time he took part of the show in 2011. He added, "It was a little bit of a vacation. I'd been making music, working at running labels for a long time, and it was a little bit of, 'Let me just have some fun.' But the second season I was fully engaged trying run a label, and it wasn't fun anymore."
However, the most notable influence of the experience to Reid's life is how it affected his preferences in music. He admitted, "And more importantly, it (The X Factor) really effected my taste -- it almost destroyed it."
He went on to say, "But yeah, what works for television isn't necessarily the thing that works in the traditional journey of music, so I adjusted my taste for television. But the truth is, I lowered my bar -- my bar was quite high, if I'm being honest, and as a result I didn't have the same level of success. The bar is quite high again now, but it was damaging." Reid also shared that he has an upcoming book which would include more details regarding his experiences as a judge in the talent show, according to The Hollywood Reporter.
"I worked with Simon Cowell, who I love and have great respect for and he has great taste, but being around him for that long, I started to take on his taste, and I'm an amateur at having his taste -- I'm good at my kind of taste," he explained.
While Reid found it difficult to adapt to the environment in "The X Factor," the show's success was undeniable. "We definitely had the audience," he agreed, referring to the number of people following and watching the show. Reid added, "And I can't criticize Simon because it was his show and we did well."
However, Reid shared that Cowell's focus might not have been on the talent but on the monetary return. The CEO shared, "But I think he (Cowell) made the statement that if we didn't do 20 million viewers, it was a failure. We did 14 million, which is actually a runaway success, but because we didn't do 20 it was a failure." He then added, "To be honest? The truth is: The Voice cleaned our clock."
Meanwhile, the statements from Reid prompted backlash from fans and followers of both "The X Factor" and Cowell himself. In response to the criticisms, Epic's CEO took to Twitter to clarify. He posted, "My comments at Midem were about me personally and were not meant to reflect on Simon Cowell, the X Factor, or its successes." He added, "@SimonCowell and I are lifelong friends and I have immense respect for his many talents and all that he has achieved."
