Paula Abdul Scandal Unable to Shield Brooke White

Oct. 27 2008, Published 7:07 a.m. ET

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In the wake of "Paulagate," Ryan Seacrest started Wednesday's American Idol by addressing Tuesday night's debacle. To recap, during the course of a rather ho-hum show, judge Paula Abdul made the critiquing gaffe of the century by judging a performance that hadn't happened yet, sparking outrage across the Internet, with rumors and conspiracy theories flying on everything from show-rigging to producers possibly scripting judge's critiques. Though Abdul tried to make it appear she mixed up her notes, it was obvious she had not. Eventually, she was forced to come clean on what actually happened. That's right, she watched a rehearsal.

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Seacrest took part of the blame by saying he threw the judges a "curveball." Judges were not supposed to be giving their thoughts on the performances after round one, yet faced with extra time, Seacrest asked them to just that. In the end, a visibly teary Abdul accepted the apology and was comforted by both of her fellow judges, Randy Jackson and Simon Cowell, as Seacrest assured audiences the rumors were "not true," and that Abdul was part of the Idol family (clip above).