Simon Cowell, the former “American Idol” judge and “X Factor” creator.

No sooner has Simon Cowell departed from“American Idol” than the reality series has started distancing itself from that acid-tongued former judge, as his British series “The X Factor” finds itself embroiled in scandal.

Producers of Fox’s “American Idol” said in a statement reported by The Associated Pressthat they do not use pitch-correcting technology to tweak the singing voices of their show’s contestants.

The statement was not merely a fait accompli for “Idol” viewers who have become accustomed to performers who can be occasionally out of tune (or “pitchy,” to borrow Randy Jackson’s coinage): it was a preemptive measure at a time when “The X Factor” is being assailed for misrepresenting the abilities of its contenders.

Producers of “The X Factor,” which Mr. Cowell created and plans to bring to American television next year, have acknowledged that they used the pitch-correcting program Auto-Tune to correct the voices of some singers on the show, though they said it was to compensate for the different microphones used during their performances.

In their statement the “American Idol” producers wrote, “We have never, nor would we ever, use Auto-Tuning during the ‘American Idol’ competition.”