Simon Cowell Defends ‘Lose A Few Pounds’ Remark

Simon Cowell defended his remark to contestant Vanessa Olivarez that she needed to “lose a few pounds” on American Idol earlier this week. He says was only trying to help Vanessa out, explaining, “We as a show encourage all shapes and sizes. What we won’t do is patronize and lie to people.” America voted Vanessa on to the next round despite Cowell’s criticism, as this year’s final 10 is shaping up — or out of shaping up — to be much heavier than last year’s. Video has since been removed.