LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA: Terry Crews has chastised the 'America's Got Talent' judges for their harsh treatment of hopefuls. Terry is the 'AGT' host, and he frequently serves as a buffer between the competitors and the four judges.

The worried host recently slammed the judges for how they treated the contestants during the 2023 live episodes. Terry revealed exclusively to The Sun how enraged he was with Simon Cowell, Heidi Klum, Sofia Vergara, and Howie Mandel during the previous shows. He has been pleading with them to refrain from pressing their red buzzers at this point in the competition. The 'Brooklyn Nine-Nine' star stated that he surreptitiously consoles participants after they are humiliated by the judges off-stage.

He also confessed that he believes the finalists have been subjected to harsher-than-usual criticism. "First of all, this is the finals, man," Terry remarked. "There's a reason they're here, so they don't buzz 'em, don't hate on 'em. They're doing the best they can. Let America make that decision. And sometimes I have to back 'em up. I have to. These guys are out there alone."

"All of a sudden they're just standing there with nobody to protect them," the television host added. "But I will. I'm always there to give 'em back up, and that's my job."

Terry works his magic when the cameras are turned off, but he is also honest with the participants. "When the cameras are off, I literally give them the hug that they need and let 'em know that this is part of the career," he explained. "If you don't go through this, there is no entertainment career. That's the fact."

"This is not the end," he added to the participants. "And it would definitely not be the end of someone's career on this show."

Which acts were buzzed by 'AGT' judges during Live Show?

During this week's live event, Sofia and Simon both pressed their red buzzers during Puppet Simon's performance, while The Cowbells competed for a spot in the finale.

The Cowbells are a puppeteering ensemble that commands many puppets on stage, including Simon and Sofia puppets. The puppets sing and dance in an attempt to win over the 'AGT' audience at home and in the studio. Despite their best efforts, the Cowbells were unable to impress the judges. During the routine, Sofia struck her buzzer, and Simon promptly banged his buzzer after her.

According to Simon, the performance "started well, but then got increasingly worse."

The audience began booing Simon, and Sofia said, "No! It was horrific in the beginning," but the puppet version of herself boosted the set.

Howie has also been known to press the red buzzer during a live performance.

Who will perform in 'AGT' Qualifiers 5?

The fifth week of 'AGT' live performances for Season 18 will run on Tuesday, September 19 (performance show) and Wednesday, September 20 (results show), with 11 of the 55 overall acts performing in front of judges Simon, Howie, Heidi, and Sofia, as well as host Terry. Only the top two vote-getters from each of the five first qualifying rounds will proceed to the grand finale, so voting is critical.

This "Qualifiers 5" week will also include the last Golden Buzzer, Sofia's pick of artist Gabriel Henrique.

The identities of the 11 forthcoming artists have been verified by NBC. They are as follows:

82nd Airborne Chorus

Avantgardey

Eduardo Antonio Trevino

Eseniia Mikheeva

Gabriel Henrique

Grace Good

Lachune

Mandy Muden

Ramadhani Brothers

Sangsoon Kim

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How much does Terry Crews make on 'AGT'?

According to Distractify, Terry, who took over as host of 'AGT' in 2019, earns roughly $60,000 per episode, which equates to around $1.5 million per season, depending on the episode account.

When will 'AGT' Season 18 finale air?

The two-hour Performance Finale will run on Tuesday, September 26 at 9/8c, followed by the two-hour Results Finale on Wednesday, September 27 at 9/8c.