Simon Cowell tries to steal Howie Mandel’s Golden Buzzer on America’s Got Talent

America’s Got Talent judge Howie Mandell was seriously unhappy with fellow judge Simon Cowell for a moment there on Tuesday’s show.

It happened just after Japanese group Airfootworks finished its act of dance and acrobatics. (Watch it in the video below.) When host Terry Crews asked Cowell to weigh in, the Brit had an odd response: “I am just about to get myself fired,” he said, before standing up and reaching for the night’s only Live Show Golden Buzzer.

“I feel like I’ve been abused!” Mandel said.

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The problem was that it wasn’t Cowell’s buzzer to give. Each of the judges — Mandel and Cowell, as well as Sofia

Vergara and Heidi Klum — have been allotted just one Golden Buzzer for this round of competition, which runs for four weeks. Last week was Sofia’s turn, and his week was Mandel’s choice.
Crews pointed out that, actually, Mandel had just beat Cowell to the buzzer.

Mandel said he chose to throw his support behind the members of the group and send them straight to the finals because of both their athleticism and their creativity. As for Cowell, “I just couldn’t help myself!” he said.

Cowell is responsible for the judges having more buzzers than ever in season 19. He slammed two in one season (one night, actually) — something that wasn’t allowed up to that point — on the second round of auditions in June. Each of the other judges was given a second buzzer, too.