The judge is being judged.
Simon Cowell was ruthlessly mocked online for how he walked through the famous “Spirit Tunnel” on “The Jennifer Hudson Show.”
Before his sit-down interview with the host, Cowell, 65, ventured down the hallway while surrounded by Hudson’s crew members, who sang about Cowell to the tune of “The Greatest Showman.”
The former “American Idol” judge awkwardly clapped his hands and smiled as he made his way down the corridor.
Once he reached the end of the hallway, Cowell turned back to the crew and said, “Can I do that again?”
At the start of the interview, Cowell gushed that he “absolutely loved” going through the “Spirit Tunnel.”
“I asked where you came up with the idea, and they told me the idea. It’s like the best way of coming on the show, seriously, I’ve ever done in my life,” Cowell told the “American Idol” alum, before asking Hudson if he can “steal” the concept for “America’s Got Talent.”
“If you invite us to do it for you,” Hudson replied, which Cowell agreed to.
“I think it’s brilliant,” the British TV personality added. “It’s seriously brilliant. I want to do it twice. I might do it on the way back.”
While Cowell enjoyed the “Spirit Tunnel,” social media critics were less impressed with how he acted in the hallway.
“Is this his first time clapping? Why is he clapping like that?😂,” one person commented on the talk show’s Instagram clip of Cowell’s entrance.
“He’s judged music for over a decade and somehow never found out how to clap on beat 😳,” another fan wrote.
“I love you down Simon…. But you only mean from the shoulders up,” a different person said.
A fourth viewer remarked, “I think we just seen Simon Cowell nervous for the first time in history.”
“This changes completely how I see Simon. He’s not so scary anymore. Lol,” another comment read.
“AI Simon Cowell,” someone else wrote.
“This so cringe,” a different fan added.
Others, however, defended Cowell and pointed out that he broke his back in an e-bike accident in 2020 and had to undergo a six-hour surgery.
“It could have been a lot worse. When I saw the X-ray, I really nearly smashed my spine to pieces, so I literally wouldn’t have been able to walk,” he told “Extra” in Feb. 2021.
“I knew I’d broken my back the minute I landed,” Cowell added, “it was really, really kind of sudden and it hurt.”
In a separate interview with People at the time, Cowell said he struggled with the “helplessness” during his recovery period.
“I’ve never been in this situation in my life where you literally can’t move. The pain was off the charts,” he explained. “But you’ve got to stay positive… I made a promise to myself I’d be fitter than I was before I had the accident. Sure enough, that’s what happened.”
