After serving as a judge on American Idol for 12 seasons, Randy Jackson has decided to fly the coop.
Randy said, “Yo! Yo! Yo! To put all of the speculation to the rest, after 12 years of judging on American Idol I have decided it is time to leave after this season. I am very proud of how we forever changed television and the music industry. It’s been a life changing opportunity but I am looking forward to focusing on my company Dream Merchant 21 and other business ventures.”
We imagine that Randy told producers, “For me, for you, I can’t go down like this, dog. I’m in it to win it, and it’s just my time to go.” (Okay, so it definitely didn’t go down like that, but we’ll miss all of Randy’s questionable sayings.)
Over the past 11 years, there’s been tons of change to the reality show, but Randy has always been a constant. “There’s always been chaos with American Idol, but this year it’s been more than ever,” a source tells E! Online.
Randy had been the last standing of the original judging panel. The original line-up included creator Simon Cowell and Paula Adbul. Although Cowell left on his own accord to creator the X Factor US in 2010, Paula was let go after negotiations in her contract did not suit her needs back in 2009.
The show has also seen talk show host Ellen DeGeneres, musician Steven Tyler and Jennifer Lopez and song writer Kira DioGuardi serve the judging panel.
Earlier today, a report claimed that Idol is looking to replace all four judges before returning in 2014. Perhaps Randy decided to quit before he was let go.
