"Gee, Paula Abdul, your hair looks terrific on American Idol. Now the Oscar Bond Salon in Soho would like you to pay for it. A source tells us that a Bond stylist was summoned to Abdul's midtown hotel room in the spring to put in about 85 extensions in preparation for the Star Search-like show. 

 

When the stylist mentioned that the hair was from India, Abdul said she was expecting Russian hair. He explained that he was told by her team that her extensions always come from Great Lengths Hair Extensions, which uses only Indian hair. Abdul let him finish, even complimenting him on his work, and handed over a personal check for $900 (including a $100 tip).

 

But the next day, the stylist received a call from someone who said she was a hairdresser working with Abdul and that the extensions weren't working. "She kept saying that Paula uses Russian hair and that there was something wrong with the Indian extensions that he put in," our source reports. 

 

A week later, Abdul's check was returned with a payment-stopped notice stamped on it. When we called Abdul's rep, he insisted that the onetime pop star was never unhappy about the work and that she has no idea why -- or how -- a stop payment was made. Just minutes later, Abdul's accountant said a new check was being FedExed."

 

- New York Magazine, 8/26/02