FIRST PUBLISHED: September 11, 2009 5:04 PM EDT
LAST UPDATED: September 11, 2009 5:23 PM EDT

LOS ANGELES, Calif. --

Simon Cowell has had to defend himself after the sarcastic Brit’s comments about the Beatles on CBS’ “The Early Show” got him into a bit of bother.

While on the CBS morning show recently, Simon told Amanda Holden, his fellow “Britain’s Got Talent” judge, that he would not have signed the Fab Four, but rather taken just three of the famous Liverpool mop tops, had they come through his U.K. reality competition.

“We would have said, ‘We’ll take those three but we’ll probably lose the drummer.’ Ringo, I’m afraid, it’s bad news,” Simon quipped, according to The Sun.

But after Simon’s comments garnered international intention, the dry-witted judge issued a statement to Access Hollywood on Friday, explaining he only made the Beatles comment in jest.

“Regarding my comments on the Beatles, it was a joke. I have always said they were the group I have always wished I had signed,” Simon said in a statement to Access.

And Simon also took time to address rumors that he turned down the Spice Girls – a rumor started by Victoria Beckham last month during an appearance on the radio show “On-Air With Ryan Seacrest.”

“He’s the only man in the music industry who turned down the Spice Girls and said we would never work,” Posh said in August.

But Simon said the singer’s statement is not true.

“To set the record straight, it was recently reported that I turned down the Spice Girls. In fact, I offered the girls a recording contract before they were signed and actually offered to double the offer they had on the table,” he said.

Simon and Victoria won’t have a chance to address the issue any time soon, as Posh already recorded her slot at the “American Idol” judges table during two rounds of the reality show’s auditions phase last month.

Copyright 2009 by NBC Universal, Inc. All rights reserved.
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