Abdul says that the director has sexually assaulted her twice.
The claims by Paula Abdul that Nigel Lythgoe sexually attacked her are being denied by him.
In a lawsuit brought earlier this week in Los Angeles County Superior Court, Abdul, 61, accused Lythgoe, 74, of multiple counts of sexual assault. She said that he sexually assaulted her twice while they worked together on American Idol and So You Think You Can Dance.
She told TMZ in a statement in response to Abdul’s claims, “To say that I am shocked and saddened by the allegations made against me by Paula Abdul is a wild understatement.” It’s been more than 20 years since Paula and I worked together and were close, friendly friends.
Lythgoe said, “I want to be clear: not only are they false, they are deeply offensive to me and everything I stand for.” He said that he heard about Abdul’s accusations “out of the blue” in the news. I’m not going to pretend to understand why she would sue for something she knows isn’t true. But I promise that I will do everything I can to fight this horrible lie.
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People asked Lythgoe’s agent for comment, but they didn’t answer right away.
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Abdul is suing the defendants for sexual assault or battery, sexual harassment, gender violence, and negligence. She filed the lawsuit under the Sexual Abuse and Cover Up Accountability Act, which lets people sue for civil sexual assault even if the time limit has passed.
The people who are being sued are Lythgoe, 19 Entertainment Inc., FremantleMedia North America Inc., American Idol Productions Inc., and Dance Nation Productions Inc.
People asked 19 Entertainment Inc. and FremantleMedia North America Inc. for comments, but they haven’t replied yet.
The suit says that American Idol Productions Inc. is a branch of Fremantle and that Dance Nation Productions Inc. is a branch of 19 Entertainment Inc.
Abdul’s lawsuit says that the first time he saw Lythgoe was when they were both working on American Idol in the early 2000s. The suit says that Lythgoe raped Abdul, who was a judge on the show from 2002 to 2009, “while on the road for the regional audition” in one of the first seasons of Idol.
When they got into the elevator, the suit says, “Lythgoe pushed Abdul against the wall, then grabbed her genitalia and breasts and began shoving his tongue down her throat.”
“Abdul attempted to push Lythgoe away from her and let him know that his behavior was not acceptable,” the document says.
According to the suit, Abdul called one of her lawyers after the claimed assault and told them what she said had happened. She was crying. The reason she didn’t do anything was “for fear that Lythgoe would have her fired from American Idol.”
She also says that while she was on the show, she was “discriminated against in terms of pay and benefits compared to one of the show’s male judges and the host” and was “the target of constant taunts, bullying, humiliation and harassment.”
The second attack is said to have happened in 2015, when Abdul was a judge on SYTYCD.
The singer went to Lythgoe’s house for dinner “believing this to be a professional invitation.” The suit says that Lythgoe “forced himself on top of Abdul while she was sitting on his couch and attempted to kiss her while proclaiming that the two would make an excellent ‘power couple.'”
Abdul “pushed Lythgoe off her, explaining that she was not interested in his advances,” the document says, and she then left his property.
In the lawsuit, there is also information about a claimed assault that Abdul saw happen and that Lythgoe did on April, who works for the “Straight Up” singer. It is thought that the event happened in April 2015.
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