Woman Sues Simon Cowell, Claims She Was Humiliated on Britain's Got Talent

Simon Cowell has criticized plenty of reality show contestants over the years, but a woman who once auditioned on Britain's Got Talent is taking her rejection especially hard. The British newspaper The Guardian reports 54-year-old Emma Amelia Pearl Czikai is suing Cowell and Britain's Got Talent, on which he serves as a judge, for approximately 2.5 million British pounds, the equivalent of 3.8 million U.S. dollars, for allegedly embarrassing and humiliating her during her appearance on the show.

Judges Cowell and Piers Morgan "buzzed" Czikai's tone-deaf performance of the JOSH GROBAN hit "You Raise Me Up" just seconds after she began, prompting her to take them both to task before giving it another go.  Her second attempt was no better than her first. 

In her complaint, Czikai says she suffers from cervical spine neuritis, which can cause head and shoulder pain. She argues the condition had a negative effect on her singing performance on the show, in part because the crew did not accommodate her by lowering the levels of the microphone and backing music.  She further declares, "This programme makes a select number of rich people very, very rich on the backs of the ordinary man and woman in the street through exploitation, humiliation, degradation and a reemergence of modern-day barbarism with all its inherent cruelty."

Czikai initially filed a complaint of unfairness and discrimination back in January. An ongoing pre-trial review will determine if she can move forward with her case. She intends to donate to charity any damages she may be awarded if she receives a ruling in her favor.