NEW YORK, NEW YORK - DECEMBER 10: Paula Abdul attends "How To Dance In Ohio" Broadway Opening Night at Belasco Theatre on December 10, 2023 in New York City. (Photo by Roy Rochlin/Getty Images)
Paula Abdul has filed a lawsuit accusing ‘American Idol’ producer Nigel Lythgoe of sexually assaulting her on several occasions.
Abdul filed at a Los Angeles courthouse on Friday (December 29). She recalled two incidents where Lythgoe allegedly got physical and forceful with her.
Keep scrolling to see what Abdul alleges happened and how Nigel is responding.
Abdul judged the popular talent show from 2002 to 2009 alongside Randy Jackson and Simon Cowell. She detailed an alleged incident where she had shared an elevator with the producer during one of the show’s “initial seasons” in the early 2000s.
When the doors closed, Lythgoe allegedly pushed Abdul up against the wall and “grabbed her genitals and breasts,” her suit claims, per Deadline. He allegedly “shoved his tongue down her throat.”
Paula managed to pull away and shun his behavior before heading to her hotel room and reporting the incident to her representatives. She ultimately chose not to pursue any legal action over fears that Lythgoe would have her fired from ‘Idol.’
The lawsuit states:
“For years, Abdul has remained silent about the sexual assaults and harassment she experienced on account of Lythgoe due to fear of speaking out against one of the most well-known producers of television competition shows who could easily break her career as a television personality and of being ostracized and blackballed by an industry that had a pattern of protecting powerful men and silencing survivors of sexual assault and harassment.”
The FOX talent show was arguably the biggest competition series of its time, catapulting the careers of artists such as Kelly Clarkson, Fantasia Barrino, Jennifer Hudson, Carrie Underwood, and Jordin Sparks.
According to PEOPLE, the lawsuit also claims Paula faced discrimination “in terms of compensation and benefits compared to one of the show’s male judges and the host.” She also claims she was the “target of constant taunts, bullying, humiliation, and harassment.”
In 2015, Abdul was a judge on ‘So You Think You Can Dance,’ another competition series that Lythgoe was executive producing at the time.
The ‘Straight Up’ singer initially thought she had received a “professional invitation” to his home. But upon her arrival, Lythgoe “forced himself on top of Abdul while she was seated on his couch.” He allegedly “attempted to kiss her while proclaiming that the two would make an excellent ‘power couple.”
She, again, shoved him away and rejected his advances before leaving his property.
The suit also named Abdul’s former assistant, April. She allegedly suffered a separate incident of sexual assault by Lythgoe in April 2015.
“One evening, Lythgoe approached Abdul and April from behind, pressed himself up against April, and began to grope her. April did not consent,” the lawsuit stated.
In an exclusive statement to TMZ, Nigel denied Paula’s allegations, accusing her of displaying “erratic behavior.”
“To say that I am shocked and saddened by the allegations made against me by Paula Abdul is a wild understatement. For more than two decades, Paula and I have interacted as dear — and entirely platonic — friends and colleagues. Yesterday, however, out of the blue, I learned of these claims in the press, and I want to be clear: not only are they false, they are deeply offensive to me and to everything I stand for. While Paula’s history of erratic behavior is well known, I can’t pretend to understand exactly why she would file a lawsuit that she must know is untrue. But I can promise that I will fight this appalling smear with everything I have.”
