EXCLUSIVE: Attacker of Simon Cowell’s Ex Speaks From Behind Bars

The woman who tried to strangle Simon Cowell’s ex-girlfriend Terri Seymour claims she was acting out of revenge after she watched the American Idol host playfully choke fellow judge Paula Abdul during the show on Tuesday night.  Janice Thibodeaux, who has been charged with a felony battery assault, spoke exclusively with RadarOnline.com from jail.

“I wasn’t cool with Simon Cowell choking Paula Abdul on the show last week and with her crying-out ‘help’ as he did so,” Thibodeaux said.  “Nobody said anything about that so I wanted to confront him about it because that is not appropriate behavior, is it?”

An Idol-watcher, Thibodeux, 33, claims she bought a ticket for the show so that she could sit in the audience to watch the final vocal showdown between Adam Lambert and Kris Allen. But when she approached the Nokia Theatre, the 5-ft 8-in, 200-lb, Thibodeux saw Cowell’s former girlfriend and decided to confront her.

“She was taking some photographs with her camera and I knew she was his girlfriend so I went up to her to tell her how I felt. We started arguing and then I put my hands around her neck and started choking her just like Simon had done with Paula,’ she explained. “Then I walked away and I was tackled by the police but I don’t regret what I did because of what Simon did to Paula, nobody seemed to care about that.”

Thibodeaux – who sells clothes online – claims that she used to be a security guard on American Idol several years ago. She is currently being held on $52,703 bail and as yet has not spoken to an attorney about the incident that was reportedly witnessed by police outside the Nokia theatre.

Police officials told RadarOnline.com that there was already a warrant out for her arrest for traffic violations and failure to appear at court. A spokesperson for Seymour refused to comment about the incident in which she did not receive any treatment for any injuries.

(Photo: Wenn)