Spoiler alert! Acts from the July 7 episode of America’s Got Talent are discussed below. All Season 21 episodes can be streamed with a Peacock subscription.

Simon Cowell looked as dashing as always in his America’s Got Talent uniform of a skin-tight black tee and tinted glasses, but who would have thought his red-tinted eyewear would cause such a kerfuffle as Season 21’s fifth night of auditions aired on the 2026 TV schedule? Suffice it to say I was shook — and so was Cowell — after one card trick Tuesday went off the rails.

Darrell Moten took the AGT stage as the second close-up magician of the evening, so Simon Cowell — who has used both of his Golden Buzzers — along with Sofía Vergara, Mel B, and Howie Mandel, really needed this act to be mindblowing. Moten asked Cowell to pull a card and not show anyone. He pulled the 5 of Hearts, but when the magician returned to the stage and showed him a 5 of Clubs, Cowell wrongly confirmed that was his card. Much confusion followed, as you can see below:

Simon Cowell seemed to feel awful after Darrell Moten said he messed up and left the stage. The judge felt responsible because his red-tinted lenses messed with his vision. He turned to the audience and said:

The vibe in the auditorium was super awkward, as a producer came out to say they were moving on, and Sofía Vergara expressed disbelief that it wasn’t all part of the act. Apparently it was, though, because Darrell Moten then appeared on the big screen in front of the judges, asking Simon Cowell to choose a color and number (he went with turquoise and 77), repeating his choices back to him before revealing that video had seemingly been prerecorded.

Darrell Moten then returned to the judges’ table to reveal the former American Idol judge’s correct card — the 5 of Hearts — in his pocket. Even after three of the four judges sent the magician through to the next round, though (Mel B was understandably confused and gave Moten a “no”), Cowell wasn’t over the snafu,

As Terry Crews interviewed the next performer backstage, Simon Cowell was still talking about his mistake with Sofía Vergara and a producer, saying: