MILWAUKEE – Simon Cowell meet your namesake: Simon, the bush baby.
“American Idol” has donated $1,500 to the Milwaukee County Zoo to call its only bush baby Simon – and to poke fun at the outspoken judge for comparing a wide-eyed contestant in Seattle to the tiny primate.
“American Idol” producers contacted the Association of Zoos &Aquariums to find out which zoos have the animal. Only about 10 zoos nationwide do, including the Milwaukee County Zoo, zoo spokeswoman Jennifer Diliberti said.
“The producer wanted to make sure the joke was put back on Simon, not the contestant,” Diliberti said.
The show approached contestant Kenny Swale beforehand for his approval, she said. It also gave Swale and Jonathan Jayne, of Renton, the Golden Idol award for best buddies during this week’s season finale.
The controversy started during auditions in Seattle when Cowell critiqued Swale, who had compared himself to Justin Timberlake. Cowell said: “You look a little odd … you look like one of those creatures that live in the jungle, with those massive eyes … a bush baby.”
Swale, who went by Kenneth Briggs on the show, said he wasn’t offended. He has talked to Cowell since then and thinks he’s a great guy who was just having a bad day, he said.
“I think this was to remind Simon what a real bush baby looks like,” he said by phone from Seattle. “Clearly, it does not look like me.”
Swale of Bothell said he has an agent and is trying to get into acting and singing.
Milwaukee County Executive Scott Walker has sent a letter to Cowell offering him a permanent pass to the zoo and plans to send one to Swale as well, said spokesman Rod McWilliams. Swale said he has never been to Milwaukee and would someday like to meet the new Simon.
Cowell’s spokesman Matthew Hiltzik said his client also looks forward to visiting the bush baby in Milwaukee and thought the name change was made in good fun.
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