Was Paula pushed out of American Idol - and is she coming back?

Peter Cohan
Updated

Yesterday I wrote about Paula Abdul's departure from American Idol. The comments I received suggest that there are many people who would stop watching the show if she is not on it and others who are less than happy with Kara DioGuardia, her replacement. Now TMZ -- which was right about Michael Jackson's death -- is reporting that a last minute deal may keep Paula on the show even though taping begins tomorrow without her.

But I was speaking with an entertainment industry source today who thought that Paula was actually fired from Idol with a big push from Simon Cowell. Why would Cowell fire Paula? My source had several reasons:

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