Paula Abdul filed a lawsuit on Friday in Los Angeles that is garnering national attention.
For understandable and very troubling reasons.
The legal papers allege that former American Idol and So You Think You Can Dance producer Nigel Lythgoe of allegedly sexually assaulted the veteran singer on multiple occasions, with the initial incident allegedly taking place amid “one of Idol’s early seasons.”
Abdul claims it took place while the crew was traveling for auditions.
Abdul then says a similar incident took place in 2014 when both she and Lythgoe were judges on So You Think You Can Dance.
The documents also state that Lythgoe “verbally insulated and belittled” Abdul during their many years working together.
As for the details surrounding this allegation?
Abdul claims she and Lythgoe got into an elevator at their hotel prior to the first supposed assault… and after the doors closed, the latter shoved her against the wall, grabbed her genitals and breasts and tried to tongue-kiss her.
Abdul says she pushed Lythgoe away and ran to her room.
She adds that she immediately called one of her reps to tell him what had transpired, but decided to keep it quiet at the time out of fear of retailiation.
Regarding the second alleged assault… Abdul claims she went over to Lythgoe’s house after signing on to judge So You Think You Can Dance because she figured the executive wanted to talk about her role on the show.
At some point, she says Lythgoe forced himself on top of her and tried to convince her they’d made a great “power couple.”
Abdul is suing Lythgoe, 19 Entertainment and FremantleMedia North America for sexual assault and battery, sexual harassment, gender violence and negligence.
Lythgoe produced American Idol during the peak of the show’s popularity in the 2000s and was last listed as a producer for the talent-based singing program in 2014.
From 2005 to 2014, he was listed as the producer and co-creator of So You Think You Can Dance.
Aside from her impressive singing career, Abdul was one of the original judges on American Idol from 2002 to 2009.
She has since appeared as a panelist on The X Factor, Live to Dance, So You Think You Can Dance and The Masked Dancer.
Neither Abdul nor Lythgoe has commented directly on the lawsuit or any of these accusations.