Posted by Andrew Unterberger on 10/12/2011 at 5:29 PM Videos

The Popdust Files: adele, jim cantiello, la reid, rihanna, simon cowell, the x factor, twitter

So are these Jim Cantiello MTV interviews with Simon Cowell and L.A. Reid just gonna keep popping up? We certainly hope so—they’re probably more riveting than the X Factor show itself, with Cantiello gently antagonizing the two judges, pitting them against each other and himself in a way that somehow manages to avoid ever being outright upsetting. This time, he tells L.A. to Earmuff Up while he jabs Simon by asking him if L.A.’s popularity—he trended on Twitter each of the show’s first two nights!—is upsetting him. Short answer: Yes.

“My publicist…thought that this was going to be great news for me,” Simon says. “Within 20 minutes of the show airing, she goes ‘I got some great news for you.’ And I went ‘What?’ ‘L.A. is trending worldwide!’ ‘…Anything else?’” Both Simon and L.A. are cracking up at this point. “Why would she call me and tell me that?” he continues. “And she thought I was going to be happy!” So glad to see that there’s no pretend team spirit between these two obvious egomaniacs—if the show wins, great, but Simon’s gonna get his numbers regardless. (Hey, Shaq and Kobe won three championships together, somehow.)

The three end the video discussing the pros and cons of assistant-run Twitter accounts, with Jim calling out Adele for her obviously deputized feed. “Step up your game, just sayin’,” he chastises the UK pop star. “She speaks in the third person! ‘Watch Adele’s new music video’! I’m like, ‘…you’re Adele talking.’” Jeez, somebody get these three a sitcom already.

In other X Factor-related news, apparently Rihanna is going to be a guest judge on tonight’s episode, appearing with L.A. Reid as he coaches the boys’ team at his house. Will anyone make a “Hi Rihanna” joke? Well, we will if no one else does, probably.

[MTV]