Seacrest is the $45 million dollar man

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If Ryan gets 45 million then Simon will probably get his 100 million.

Picture 24

via Reuters

LOS ANGELES (Hollywood Reporter) – Ryan Seacrest is Fox’s 45-Million-Dollar Man.

The “American Idol” host has closed a major new three-year deal with CKX, parent of “Idol” producer 19 Entertainment, worth $15 million per year.

Under the pact, which is believed to be the richest ever for a reality host, Seacrest will be exclusive to CKX in broadcast TV primetime to host “Idol” or any CKX-produced show that might succeed it.

The pact, which had been in the works for the past several weeks, more than triples his previous salary of slightly less than $5 million per season.

“Idol” producers 19, FremantleMedia North America and Fox all declined to comment on Seacrest’s new deal, as did his attorneys. The pact is expected to be announced Monday.

Seacrest has a separate cable deal with Comcast and is E! Entertainment’s lead anchor. He also produces such shows as E!’s “Keeping Up with the Kardashians” and ABC’s upcoming Jamie Oliver reality series.

With Seacrest’s renegotiation out of the way, the “Idol” producers will focus on securing the show’s judges for next season.

Uber judge Simon Cowell has made statements that he might leave the singing competition when his contract is up at the end of next season. The British media have pegged his salary demands at more than $100 million per year.

The other judges — Randy Jackson, Paula Abdul and Kara DioGuardi — all have said they hope to close deals to return next season.

While the ratings for the reality juggernaut have slipped in the past couple of years, “Idol” remains the highest-rated series on television by a mile and is a windfall for its producers.

(Editing by DeanGoodman at Reuters)

Paula Abdul Admits 12-Year Drug Habit

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via NY Post

PAULA Abdul is hitting the stage for a live perform ance on “American Idol” tomorrow night.

She’ll leave the judging to others to sing “I’m Just Here for the Music” — the first single off an album due out in the fall.

Since she’s preparing to return to the music scene, the timing seemed right to bare her soul over the drug habit that she’s recently kicked.paula_abdul

For the first time, Abdul reveals how hard it was for her to detox from a 12-year-long painkiller addiction.

“I could have killed myself,” she tells this month’s issue of Ladies’ Home Journal.

The withdrawal was “the worst thing. I was freezing cold, then sweating hot, then chattering and in so much pain. It was excruciating. But at my very core, I did not like existing the way I had been.”

Although Abdul claims that she never filmed an episode of “Idol” while under the influence — and vehemently denied any illegal drug use in the past — she did spend at least part of the last decade relying on painkillers and Chinese medicine to quietly combat her injury-induced chronic debilitating pain, she says.

Years of cheerleading, dancing injuries and two crashes — a 1992 car crash and a 1993 plane crash that required 15 spinal surgeries — contributed to a diagnosis of reflex sympathetic dystrophy syndrome in 2005. The illness left her with disabling pain, chattering teeth and shingles-like lesions.

To relieve the symptoms, Abdul wore a patch that delivered a pain medication that she claims was 80 times more potent than morphine. She also sometimes took a muscle relaxer, she said.

But that’s all ancient history. Last Thanksgiving, Abdul gave up the meds for good during a stay at Calsbad, Calif.’s La Costa Resort and Spa.

Now, she’s in shape and gearing up to to relaunch her music career.