Nigel Lythgoe, an executive producer for American Idol and co-creator of So You Think You Can Dance, is denying he sexually assaulted Paula Abdul after she filed a lawsuit on Friday claiming multiple instances of abuse.
In the lawsuit, which has been reviewed by our sister site Rolling Stone, Abdul accuses Lythgoe of sexually assaulting her during an early season of American Idol, and again in 2014 while she was judging So You Think You Can Dance.
“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,” Lythgoe told TMZ on Saturday.
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He continued: “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.”
Lythgoe said that he and Abdul “have interacted as dear — and entirely platonic — friends and colleagues” for over two decades. “To say say that I am shocked and saddened by the allegations made against me by Paula Abdul is a wild understatement,” he shared.
In the lawsuit, Abdul details a pattern of toxic behavior, alleging that Lythgoe “verbally insulted and belittled” her as early as 2001. Upon joining Idol as a judge in 2002, she...
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