Paula Abdul’s Bizarre Behavior

By: Shannon Gossage

Abdul did a live interview from New York City to talk about the Seattle hopefuls that had auditioned for American Idol. Abdul looked completely out of it, slurred her words, swayed in and out of the frame, and appeared to be loopy. The clip, which has been making its way around the Internet, has left many to question just what was wrong with Paula Abdul. Was she drunk? High? Not according to her rep, Jeff Ballard, who claims that his client was merely "disoriented."

Ballard goes on to say the incident is "really much ado about nothing." He denied claims that Abdul was under the influence of drugs or alcohol and said the station had "technical problems with the satellite and her sound was dropped not once but twice. Paula was in a small room by herself with only a cameraman. Paula was distracted and confused by the station dropping the sound. She did not know what was going on." At one point it did appear that Abdul was having trouble hearing what news anchors Lily Jang and Carmen Ainsworth were saying, but she seemed way too out of it to just be "distracted" or "disoriented."

Abdul was definitely acting strangely. She was winking at the camera, waving to the camera with both hands and giggling like a schoolgirl. She seemed at one point to almost nod off. Jang and Ainsworth seemed to have a hard time trying to keep their composure when they seemed to be wondering what was wrong with Abdul. Idol judge Simon Cowell reportedly said that Seattle’s contestants were some of the worst he has ever heard and when the anchors questioned Abdul about that she said she agreed with him. Said Abdul, "I have to agree with Simon. Hey, you know what? It is what it is." She then went on to say, "Seattle had the best delusional people." What?!