"American Idol" judge Paula Abdul is firing back at the audio leak of a private phone conversation.

According to TMZ.com, the celebrity gossip blogger PerezHilton.com posted audio of the five-minute phone call, where Abdul is heard sobbing over her alleged treatment by her former publicist Howard Bragman.

The tape was also first reported on with the headline "Paula Whine Caught On Tape" by the New York Post's Page Six, TMZ said.

"I am deeply hurt and extremely disappointed that someone has taken a private telephone conversation that I had with my representatives and released it to the media," Abdul said in a statement to TMZ.com.

She said in the statement that the action is "not only illegal but also highly unethical."

Abdul also noted that the she doesn't "feel a need to justify or explain my conversation," and even as a public figure, "I do feel my privacy has been violated and find this action to be unacceptable."

In the call, Abdul claims that Bragman said, among other things, that she's too old to be featured on magazine covers.

Abdul discusses her neck and spinal cord troubles and a recent diagnosis of Addison's disease -- an endocrine or hormonal disorder.

Several readers of PerezHilton's blog have responded angrily to the posting of the phone call. One said, "Some things should be private."