Mark Burnett fires back at Simon Cowell’s claims over ‘X Factor’
“The Voice” producer Mark Burnett has fired back at Simon Cowell — saying that the TV personality is delusional for thinking that “The Voice” is going in a head-to-head battle with the premiere of “X Factor” to steal the limelight from pop singer, Britney Spears.
According to reports, 52-year-old Mark Burnett said that he did not even know NBC added “The Voice” to the schedule next Wednesday. The British TV producer told media outlet TMZ, “There was never ever a meeting or a discussion of what my show was up against. The fact is … it shows you where our minds are at and where others are because it literally never crossed my mind.”
Mark Burnett, who is also known as the creator of “Survivor” and “The Apprentice,” also cast doubts on the state of Simon Cowell’s thinking on the issue:
Mark Burnett added, “This is someone trying to read into something that doesn’t exist.”
“I’m just glad we’re on Simon’s mind,” Mark Burnett concluded.
Previous reports have stated that Simon Cowell slammed NBC executives for making a last-minute move to put “The Voice” in the same time slot as Fox’s “X Factor” before premier in the United States.
Cowell said that he had a “gentleman’s agreement” with the network to allow both singing competitions to air on different days. He added that X Factor judge Britney Spears will be “devastated” when she finds out that he is slated to go head-to-head with former pop rival, Christina Aguilera.
NBC was initially set to run “The Voice” on Mondays and Tuesday, while Fox’s “X Factor’ would run on Wednesdays and Thursdays.
Simon Cowell called out the NBC honchos for playing “political games,” saying, “This is a cynical, cold-hearted, unprofessional way of doing business.”
“The reason they’ve done this is they don’t want people to see X Factor because they’ve heard how good the series is. They don’t want their audience to see Britney Spears. They don’t want their audience to see Demi Lovato,” the TV personality went on.
Cowell said he also expects Britney Spears — who signed on to judge the TV talent show with Demi and music executive L.A. Reid in May — will not take the news well.
“Britney’s not going to appreciate the fact that Christina – who has been a bit of a rival – isn’t allowing Britney to have a night of her own. She’s going to be devastated because she’s put her heart and soul into this,” Simon Cowell concluded.
This is said to be the latest in an ongoing ratings war between the big bosses of “The Voice” and Simon Cowell — who accused the producers of trying the same “dirty tricks” by taking the show to England to face off against “Britain’s Got Talent.