Idol threats: what's with the gay-baiting?

I'll admit, I'm the one person in America who doesn't watch American Idol -- if you ask me, karaoke is much more fun and usually features alcoholic beverages of some sort. But I did catch last night's rather underwhelming episode and was disgusted at the behavior of the hosts -- and for once, I don't mean Paula Abdul's bobbing-and-weaving. No, Paula was fine (which was in itself kind of disappointing, I'll admit). But Simon Cowell and Ryan Seacrest took every possible opportunity to make jabs at one another, and those jabs were often thinly-veiled accusations about the other's sexuality -- mostly on Ryan's part (although I understand that in the past Simon has been just as guilty). At one point Ryan made a snippy comment about Simon's use of the word "cutesy" and the fact that Simon liked to "gaze into the eyes" of one of the male contestants (which he obviously doesn't), which was clearly his way of pulling an Ann Coulter on Simon. What the heck? How on earth is that appropriate for a singing competition? Considering that this is the highest-rated television show in the history of the universe, isn't it a bit disconcerting that two of the authority figures on the show are poking at each other like insecure boys on a playground? Has their behavior always been this juvenile and gay-baiting? It's disappointing enough that two grown men still think the ultimate insult is challenging the other's sexuality, but even more upsetting that they feel comfortable doing so in front of literally millions of viewers, many of them teenagers and children. Grow up, guys -- you're setting a pretty pathetic example. American Idol, my foot...