Paula Abdul has settled a lawsuit that she filed against Nigel Lythgoe, a television producer, accusing him of sexually assaulting her when they worked together on “American Idol” and “So You Think You Can Dance.”
A notice of settlement was filed in Los Angeles Superior Court on Thursday, ending a case that had resulted in Mr. Lythgoe’s exit this year as a judge on “So You Think You Can Dance,” a show he helped create. He had vehemently denied the accusations and was fighting the lawsuit in court.
The details of the settlement were not disclosed. In a statement, Ms. Abdul said that she was “grateful that this chapter has successfully come to a close and is now something I can now put behind me.”
Mr. Lythgoe, who was one of the producers who made “American Idol” a phenomenon in the United States, said in a statement that, like Ms. Abdul, he was glad to put the issue behind him. “We live in a troubling time where a person is now automatically assumed to be guilty until proven innocent, a process that can take years,” he said.
He said in the statement that “I know the truth and that gives me great comfort.”
In Ms. Abdul’s lawsuit, which was filed late last year, she said that during one of the early seasons of “American Idol,” which premiered in 2002, Mr. Lythgoe shoved her against the wall of a hotel elevator, grabbed her genitals and breasts and began “shoving his tongue down her throat.”
After leaving “American Idol” she joined Mr. Lythgoe as a judge on “So You Think You Can Dance” in 2015 and 2016, and her lawsuit said that he again made advances during that time. She alleged in the suit that Mr. Lythgoe assaulted her again when she visited his home to discuss work, accusing him of groping her breasts and buttocks while trying to kiss her. The suit said she did not report the encounter out of fear of retaliation.
In court papers, lawyers for Mr. Lythgoe had called the accusations false and a “form of character assassination” on him. In the filing they questioned her credibility and pointed to “adoring” text messages and emails from Ms. Abdul to Mr. Lythgoe that they argued showed her “true feelings” about the producer as a longtime friend.
Ms. Abdul sued under a California law that allows people making sexual assault accusations to file claims outside the statute of limitations for a limited period of time. The law revives claims arising from allegations dating as far back as 2009. Her lawsuit’s assault claim was later narrowed to focus only on the allegations arising from “So You Think You Can Dance,” which fell within that window.
In her statement, Ms. Abdul called the case a “long and hard-fought personal battle,” saying she hoped her experience could “serve to inspire other women, facing similar struggles, to overcome their own challenges with dignity and respect, so that they too can turn the page and begin a new chapter of their lives.”
Ms. Abdul had previously dismissed production companies behind “American Idol” and “So You Think You Can Dance” as defendants in the case. A trial had been scheduled for August 2025.
The post Paula Abdul Settles Sexual Assault Lawsuit Against Nigel Lythgoe appeared first on New York Times.
