Grammy-award-winning artist and renowned US television personality Paula Abdul has taken legal action, filing a California lawsuit accusing Nigel Lythgoe, a producer on the iconic singing contest “American Idol” and a judge on “So You Think You Can Dance,” of sexual assault. The complaint, submitted on Friday, unveils disturbing details of two alleged incidents.
Abdul, celebrated for her groundbreaking 1988 album “Forever Your Girl,” which held the record for the most successful debut at the time, claims that Lythgoe, a 74-year-old English producer, assaulted her twice. The lawsuit further implicates other executives on “American Idol,” where Abdul served as a judge from 2002 to 2009, alleging discrimination in pay and enduring constant taunts, bullying, humiliation, and harassment.
The most severe accusations involve Lythgoe, with the lawsuit recounting an early episode during “Idol’s” auditions when Abdul and Lythgoe were on the road. In a hotel elevator, Lythgoe allegedly attacked Abdul, groping her and forcibly kissing her. A second assault occurred in 2015, after Abdul agreed to judge “So You Think You Can Dance.” During a dinner at Lythgoe’s house, he allegedly attempted to kiss her, declaring they would make an excellent ‘power couple.’
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The complaint reveals Abdul’s years of silence, attributing it to fear of retaliation within the television industry. Her contracts reportedly prohibited discussing anything derogatory. Lythgoe, responding to the accusations, expressed being “shocked and saddened,” denying any wrongdoing.
These allegations by Abdul, known for hits like “Opposites Attract” and “Straight Up,” emerge amidst a series of high-profile lawsuits filed ahead of the expiration of part of California’s Sexual Abuse and Cover Up Accountability Act. This legal wave follows a similar law in New York that resulted in prominent cases, including one against hip-hop mogul Sean “Diddy” Combs in November.
The second assault came after Abdul agreed to appear as a judge on “So You Think You Can Dance” in 2015, and went to dinner at Lythgoe’s house, where he allegedly “attempted to kiss her while proclaiming that the two would make an excellent ‘power couple.’”
“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 complaint stated.
