Nick Cannon: 'American Idol' Producers Are Using Mariah Carey, Nicki Minaj Feud For Publicity (VIDEO)

Nick Cannon: 'Idol' Producers Using Feud For Publicity

The "American Idol" feud between Mariah Carey and Nicki Minaj has been generating headlines for well over a week, and according to Carey's husband Nick Cannon, that's exactly what Fox executives wanted to happen. Cannon hit the talk show circuit Tuesday and shared his theory that the feud is being used by "American Idol" producers to generate interest and ratings.

The "America's Got Talent" host implied that he believes "Idol" producers were the ones who leaked the video of the argument to TMZ. "I believe it was real to the extent that it actually happened," Cannon told the ladies of "The View." "If you ask my opinion, I've produced tons of television, and I don't know anybody who can stand with a camera phone right in front of the monitor and record it and nobody say anything, and then it just magically gets on TMZ."

Cannon expanded on his thoughts in an interview with HuffPost Live. "My wife is the classiest and strongest woman I've ever known ... She's been through a lot worse in her career than some rapper getting loud with her ... I was more disappointed with the way the producers and the network handled the situation," he said. "It feels really contrived.

"Everybody has arguments, everybody gets into situations, and to kind of promote that for ratings, I think that's distasteful ... I think we got a glimpse of a moment of frustration, I don't think there's a real beef," Cannon continued.

Cannon also clarified an earlier report that Carey was angry when she first learned that Minaj would be joining the "Idol" judging panel, and again pointed the finger at Fox for leaking reports of her displeasure:

"Mariah and Nicki were close ... Mariah put her in her video and they did songs together. She sent us a wonderful baby gift when our kids were born. But I think what happened ... and I blame this on Fox again. When Mariah was hired to do 'American Idol,' she was being courted by every competition show out there, but she chose the one that she felt was the classier show ... and she thought it would be the same way she's seen it in the past, two guys and one girl. So when you hear that there's going to be someone else, of course that comes to you as a surprise ... But I think after she got over the initial idea, and it was someone that she knew, she was fine with it ... Again, someone put that seed out there that, 'Oh, Mariah's upset.' She's bigger than that. She's not worried about being upset. I think she was misled by the powers-that-be, and that probably created a lot of frustration."

Check out the HuffPost Live segment below:

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