Artist Paula Abdul files sexual assault complaint against “American Idol” producer

In a complaint filed in California, the artist says she was sexually assaulted on two occasions. English producer Nigel Lythgoe denies these accusations.

Grammy Award-winning artist and American television star Paula Abdul has accused a producer of the television singing competition “American Idol” of sexual assault, according to a lawsuit filed in California. The singer, whose 1988 album “Forever Your Girl” was hailed as the most successful debut album in history, accused Nigel Lythgoe of sexually assaulting her on two occasions, according to the complaint filed on Friday 29 December.

The English producer, also a judge on the television dance competition “So You Think You Can Dance”, denied the accusations, media reported. In her complaint, the 61-year-old singer said she was harassed by Nigel Lythgoe and other executives on “American Idol,” where she was a judge from 2002 to 2009. According to the complaint, the star was discriminated against by salary terms, adding that“she was the target of constant taunts, intimidation, humiliation and harassment by several managers, agents and employees” of the show.

Years of silence

But the most serious charges target Nigel Lythgoe, aged 74. Early in the run of “American Idol,” according to the complaint, Paula Abdul and the producer were traveling together to audition for the competition when he assaulted her in a hotel elevator, groping her and “shoving his tongue down his throat”. The second attack dates back to 2015 when Paula Abdul had just agreed to be a judge on “So You Think You Can Dance”. She had gone to dinner with Nigel Lythgoe, where he would have “tried to kiss her while claiming they would make a great ‘power couple'”.

“For years, Abdul remained silent about Lythgoe’s sexual assault and harassment, for fear of speaking out against one of television’s best-known competition producers who could easily destroy her career as a television personality. “ostracize and ostracize her from an industry that has a history of protecting powerful men and muzzling survivors of sexual assault and harassment”, argues the complaint. Nigel Lythgoe, for his part, declared himself “shocked and saddened” rejecting these accusations, to NPR radio.