American Idol fans demand ‘energetic’ Keke Palmer REPLACE ‘boring’ Carrie Underwood after star’s mentor debut

Collage of two women; one in a floral dress and another in a tank top and jeans.

AMERICAN Idol fans have called for Carrie Underwood to be fired and replaced with A-list actress Keke Palmer.

The country singer has faced backlash throughout the current season of the singing competition for mocking contestants and more.

Keke Palmer with hands raised, smiling in a neon green tank top and jeans.
American Idol fans are calling for Carrie Underwood to be replaced with Keke Palmer after the actress made a guest appearance on the showCredit: American Idol
Carrie Underwood wearing a floral dress and flower crown, surrounded by tropical plants.
Carrie has been slammed by fans of the competition series for being harsh to competitorsCredit: American Idol
Amid the backlash, fans are calling for Carrie, 43, to be axed from the American Idol judges panel and replaced with Keke, 32.

The chatter began after the One of Them Days star made a guest appearance on the show, serving as a temporary judge.

In a Reddit thread dedicated to the ABC singing competition, one fan wrote, “I’d take Keke Palmer over Carrie as a judge any day of the week. That was pure entertainment.”

The original poster added, “Shes so fun and energetic i love it.”

Fans in the comments agreed, demanding ABC consider firing the You’re More Than Enough singer and replacing her.

“Agreed, I’d much prefer Keke as a replacement. She’s a joy,” one fan commented.

A second wrote, “Been a huge fan of Keke for a long time! She’s an absolute ray of sunshine every time I’ve seen her and to be honest I think she’s extremely underrated in terms of a Singer as she has got vocals.”

“I definitely think they were fit testing her,” speculated a third American Idol viewer.

A fourth fan complained, “I don’t like any of the ‘judges’ now. They aren’t allowed to be critical.”

“I don’t like her as a judge. Here’s the thing: with ratings being good and how they supposedly changed Idol due to her (Ex. songs of faith theme, Nashville centered show, etc.) I wouldn’t be surprised if they want to keep her as a judge,” noted another viewer.

Viewers aren’t the only ones complaining – Carrie is reported to be unhappy with her portrayal on the show.

After slamming audience members who loudly booed her, it was reported that the musician is “frustrated” with this season of American Idol, claiming producers have repeatedly highlighted unflattering moments for her.

A source told The U.S. Sun exclusively, “She’s felt more frustrated and annoyed by some of the producers’ decisions this season.

“Like them highlighting the times she got booed and making a mockery of it.”

“She knows they’re doing it for the ratings but she felt it was disrespectful for them to lean into that so much,” the insider added.

“Still, she isn’t backing down this year and if anything, those boos will only fuel her to be more critical, more outspoken, but still honest, with feedback this season.”

Tensions on the show came to a head during Hollywood Week when contestant Mor, 22, performed an original song that Carrie heavily critiqued.

Before the audience could react, Carrie had to brace herself for impact.

“I feel like you guys are gonna boo me,” she said to the crowd.

“And it’s coming, just bring it on! I love it! Your boos are feeding me!”

Moments later, the live audience erupted and the clip went viral on social media.

Fans were split on whether Carrie was being honest with the Hollywood hopeful or cruel.

The country artist went as far as to lean into the narrative, defending herself online after the fact.

“Spoiler alert…I get booed A LOT from our Hollywood Week audience,” she wrote.

The episode was filmed months prior to its release, giving producers ample time to edit out the booing but they opted to keep it in the final cut.

Elsewhere in the episode, Carrie addressed the criticism after co-star Luke Bryan also delivered some harsh critique, but he didn’t get the same negative reaction.

“Why don’t they boo you?” she furiously questioned in a clip shared by Luke and the official American Idol account.

Carrie did not highlight the booing on her own social media pages.

While she has taken the negativity in stride, insiders say behind-the-scenes it’s a different story.

“It’s been a completely new Carrie this season than last season. Last year was her first year, she was getting the hang of it still. She was more meek,” a source said.

“This season, she came into it like she had something to prove and she wasn’t going to back down at all this time.

“She definitely came in hot with much more opinionated feedback and sometimes got more brazen.”

Although she’s been branded as the bad guy this season, Carrie reportedly isn’t sweating her “villain” label.

“Carrie doesn’t think of herself as the villain, far from it,” the source said.

“She genuinely wants to help the contestants with their careers. But if that’s the label fans are giving her, so be it. She’ll embrace the villain role.”

Carrie launched her career two decades ago by appearing on American Idol.

She has now been a judge on the show for two seasons alongside Luke and Lionel Richie.

The show has made major changes to accommodate Carrie, suggesting she’s in it for the long haul – at least for now.

Keke Palmer in a lime green tank top and jeans with her hands up, smiling, surrounded by tropical plants.
Some American Idol fans speculated that American Idol producers were testing fan reactions to Keke on the showCredit: American Idol
Keke Palmer smiling in a coral dress at the American Idol red carpet event.
In addition to being an actress, Keke, who guest spotted on American Idol, is a talented singerCredit: Getty
Woman with a flower crown and floral dress gesturing with her hands.
Carrie has been branded a villain in her second season on American Idol, even getting booed by live audiences on the showCredit: American Idol