Simon Cowell Apologizes For Going 'Too Far' In Insulting American Idol Auditions

It may be a few years too late, America, but Simon Cowell really is sorry.

In a new interview with The New York Times, Cowell offers an apology for his infamously mean treatment of auditioning singers on the hit Fox competition "American Idol." Cowell now explains that seeing his cruel comments on the show and online is "why I changed over time. I did realize I've probably gone too far." He adds: "I'm not proud of it, let's put it that way. I never look at this stuff online, so when I hear about these clips, I'm like, 'Oh, God.'"

Cowell chalks up his sour attitude to the rigors of shooting "Idol" auditions. "I didn't particularly like audition days, because they're long and boring," he admits. "I would get fed up. And of course, out of a hundred nice comments, what are they going to use? They're always going to use me in a bad mood. I got that. What can I say? I'm sorry."

He also insists that his harsh judgments were only meant to help: "All I wanted with these shows was to find successful artists to sign to the label. So when all these people were coming in and they couldn't sing, I would be like when I used to audition people and someone would come in and they can't sing. We would say after 10 seconds, 'You can't sing.' Not, 'You're going to be brilliant.'"

Cowell, who still hands out talent critiques these days on NBC's "America's Got Talent," does credit his Mr. Mean routine with boosting "Idol" viewership, though: "The upside is that it made the shows really popular worldwide."