Jennifer Lopez to Earn a Whopping $17.5 M as IDOL Judge

By: Caryn Robbins Sep. 03, 2013

It was recently reported that recording artist Jennifer Lopez will be heading back to the American Idol judges' panel for the upcoming 13th season, alongside judges Keith Urban and Harry Connick Jr.

Now, a source tells MailOnline that the 44-year-old singer 'from the block' will earn a remarkable $17.5 million to share her musical opinions and feedback to Idol contestants. "There was a lot of back-and-forth negotiating on her salary, but now it's finally been settled that Jennifer will earn $17.5-m to go back to Idol next season," the source told MailOnline exclusively.

They added, "It's a major coup for her to land a huge payday like that and I believe she is thrilled with that number. It's a lot more than the $15-m Britney Spears was paid to do The X Factor."

On her first appearance on the FOX singing competition, Lopez took in a mere $12 million. That figure was upped to $15 million for her sophomore turn on the show.

IDOL hopefuls will meet Emmy Award-nominated host Ryan Seacrest and the judges, including Urban, when the auditions travel to Atlanta, Austin, Boston, Detroit, Omaha, Salt Lake City and San Francisco. American Idol XIII debuts in January 2014 on FOX.

Source