Britney Spears has killed her career, says sharp-tongued ‘American Idol’ judge Simon Cowell. The British record exec is convinced Britney Spears will never bounce back from her lackluster opening at the 2007 MTV Video Music Awards. (Video Here)

“If I had been looking after Britney I’d have taken one look at her in rehearsals and I wouldn’t have allowed her on stage.

“It would have been worth pulling her off the bill — no matter what the cost — to save any chance she had of resurrecting her career,” Simon says.

“She wasn’t ready for that show in every possible way.”

“The song wasn’t right, the image wasn’t right and she just wasn’t rehearsed.”

“If she had turned up and given that performance at the X Factor auditions then I wouldn’t have put her through to the next round.”

“The problem she has now is that she could have killed her career. It’s difficult to come back from that performance, for a while at least.”