While $25 million is a wonderful paycheck, sometimes even the biggest celebrities ought to take a cut for the sake of better quality. Apparently, TV insiders told Page Six that Katy Perry’s huge check left “pennies” for Lionel Ritchie and Luke Bryan.

“ABC was originally going to spend no more than $50 million on talent. They had to expand their budget for Lionel,” an insider said. As for blame, insiders are blaming CEO/President Ben Sherwood, who signed off on all the deals.

“Ben Sherwood blew the budget on Katy without thinking how that would impact other areas of the show budget. He gambled on her because of her appeal to a younger audience and huge social-media following. But Katy is effectively taking money from the other judges, who then had to be paid way less,” the source said.

The insider continued: “The negotiations with Luke and Lionel have been fraught and difficult because of [Katy’s paycheck]. They expected similar deals to Katy, but are, in fact, getting a hell of a lot less. In the end, ABC had to cough up a second round of money to sign the other judges.”

Originally, ABC was going to give Lionel and Bryan $2.5 million — can you IMAGINE?!

“As of last week, their contracts were not done. Sherwood authorized ABC to cough up more money. They’re both making about $7 million each now. This has become a very expensive show. If ‘Idol’ doesn’t work, it will blow up big time in Sherwood’s face. If it does work, he’s a genius,” the network source said.