Paula Abdul is not backing down.
ThoughAmerican Idolproducer Nigel Lythgoe denied the singer's claims when she sued him for sexual assault, an insider stated Abdul has no intention of settling quietly.
"Paula is extremely specific in the lawsuit about what Nigel [allegedly] did to her and her assistant," a source noted to a magazine. "Paula is determined to make him pay for what she says he did to her. She may have been afraid to speak up years ago, but not anymore."
As OK! reported, the "Straight Up" crooner, 61, filed the suit in December 2023 over incidents she claimed occurred several years ago.
"Lythgoe shoved Abdul against the wall, then grabbed her genitals and b------, and began shoving his tongue down her throat,” the complaint stated of a situation in 2014. “Abdul attempted to push Lythgoe away from her. When the doors to the elevator for her door opened, Abdul ran out of the elevator and to her hotel room. Abdul quickly called one of her representatives in tears to inform them of the assault.”
That same year, the brunette beauty said she attended what she thought was a business dinner at his home when he assaulted her again.
"Toward the end of the evening, Lythgoe forced himself on top of Abdul while she was seated on his couch and attempted to kiss her while proclaiming that the two would make an excellent ‘power couple,’" the documents stated. "Abdul pushed Lythgoe off of her, explaining that she was not interested in his advances and immediately left."
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In addition, the dancer said Lythgoe, 74, verbally harassed and bullied her and also sexually assaulted one of her assistants in 2015.
"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," her statement continued.
The So You Think You Can Dance producer denied the accusations, sharing, "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," he continued. "I want to be clear: not only are they false, they are deeply offensive to me and to everything I stand for. ... 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."
After his denial, Lythgoe stepped down from the current season of SYTYCD.
In Touch reported on Abdul's determination to get justice.
