New “American Idol” judge Ellen DeGeneres schools Simon Cowell a bit on political correctness

We’re all very eager to see what kind of chemistry sunny Ellen DeGeneres will have with grumpy Simon Cowell once the new season of American Idol begins.

Ellen, in case you’ve been hiding under a rock, replaces the loopy but loveable Paula Abdul on the show. She kicks off their chat with Entertainment Weekly by saying: “Simon really is, in my opinion, mean to people sometimes. So, I think I’ll be hard [as a judge] but if he’s rude, I’m going to let him know he’s rude.”

Towleroad.com excerpted the portion of the article that addresses silly – and not very funny – gay banter that has gone on between Cowell and host Ryan Seacrest in the past. Simon says Idol is  “the least racist, homophobic show in the world” but adds that he hates political correctness.

Ellen is having none of it: “Well, I don’t go by that rule, where there’s no political correctness at all. If we lived in a world where there was no such thing as racism or homophobia, then obviously there would be no off-limits. Unfortunately, there are people in this world that don’t like other people, and that was one of the issues that was brought up about Adam Lambert. So I’m sensitive to it just because I’ve experienced that kind of discrimination. At the same time, the stuff that Simon and Ryan do – none of that has ever been offensive to me. I’m more offended by people who make jokes about something sounding like an animal that’s been caught in a lawn mower or whatever. Because there are sick people out there that would go, “What’s that sound like?”

Ellen will make her first appearance on Idol when Hollywood Week kicks off on Feb. 9.