Paula Abdul is holding fast to her claim that appearances can be deceiving.
The American Idol judge has once again spoken up in her own defense over a series of bizarre interviews she conducted earlier this month in which she appeared, shall we say, confused.
Footage of Abdul's loopy question-and-answer session with a Seattle Fox affiliate was posted on YouTube for those who missed it the first time around, leading to rampant speculation over whether the "Forever Your Girl" singer was drunk or on drugs at the time of the interview.
However, Abdul has repeatedly claimed that the botched appearance had nothing to do with either drugs or alcohol, but was instead the result of an audio snafu.
"I did a big week of press all last week in New York, and on the third day I did one of those press junkets where you're in that one little room and you're looking at one camera and there are 30 cities talking into your ear," Abdul explained on the Tonight Show earlier this month. "I guess Alabama was in my ear and so was Seattle at the same time, so I'm answering questions to the wrong answers of the cities."
Fox issued a statement of support for Abdul, backing up her explanation of technical difficulties and commending her sense of humor in the face of adversity.
"Rather than getting angry about these difficulties, or stopping the tour, Paula forged ahead and decided to have fun with the increasingly challenging situation," the network said. "Unfortunately, because reporters and viewers were unaware of the situation, her humor was misconstrued."
While an audio glitch may explain away Abdul's seemingly nonsensical answers to the interviewer's questions, there's still the matter of her disoriented demeanor and slurred speech, not to mention her apparent inability to sit still.
At an appearance in Las Vegas over the weekend, where she accepted a Woman of the Year award at a Nevada Ballet Theater fundraiser, Abdul said her lack of sleep contributed to her whacky behavior.
"Fatigue and exhaustion just added to the whole thing looking so disoriented. But no alcohol and no drugs, absolutely no!" Abdul told Robin Leach's Vegas-based blog, Luxe Life.
"I just can't explain it but for me, no excuses and no apologies."
Not that odd behavior is anything new for Abdul, who's been known to blurt out nonsensical comments on Idol in the past.
Last season, when asked by Ryan Seacrest why she thought two contestants received the lowest number of votes, she responded: "Simon said because one of them ate pizza and the other ate salad."
During another round of eliminations, she offered up her version of a proverb, something about "the moth who finds the melon finds the corn flake always finds the melon," a line she later claimed Simon Cowell fed her as a prank.
Abdul previously defended herself against rumors of drug and alcohol use during season four, when she revealed that she suffers from a rare neurological disorder that causes chronic pain and apparently some unpredictable antics.
"It was time to set the record straight. I want America to know that I have never been addicted to anything, no chemical dependency, nothing for recreational purposes," Abdul said in a 2005 interview with Entertainment Tonight, responding to rampant speculation about her behavior on the American Idol message boards.
Apparently, that's her story and she's sticking to it.
In addition to judging her sixth season of American Idol, Abdul is also producing and starring in a live-action movie based on the popular line of Bratz dolls and will be the focus of a new Bravo reality show titled Hey Paula!
The unscripted series promises to provide "an intimate glimpse at the real woman behind the headlines." Here's hoping it finally gets to the bottom of what makes Abdul is the way she is.