This spring, beloved jerk Simon Cowell enlisted the help of the press in his American Idol salary negotiations by telling a bunch of reporters he was considering leaving the show. And it worked! The Post reports today that Cowell — who made a meager $36 million last season — has been offered between $100 million and $144 million per year by Fox and 19 Entertainment to extend his Idol contract when it expires at the end of next May. We would point out that this is an insane sum of money that tops the amounts raised for Africa by either 2007's or 2008's Idol Gives Back telethons, but we're already sick of the clown judges on So You Think You Can Dance and America's Got Talent and since AI pulls down $900 million a year anyway, $140 million seems like a perfectly reasonable price for Simon. Also, paying out that much might make it difficult to employ four judges next season, and we'd totally approve of one losing her job.

ENORMOUS MONEY [NYP]