UPDATED 3/7/24, 5:18 p.m. ET: Paula Abdul allegedly has texts from Nigel Lythgoe that she says prove he sexually harassed her.
Now, according to TMZ, Abdul’s attorney Melissa Eubanks says Lythgoe is victim-shaming the singer and attempting to disprove her lawsuit from December. "He held the cards to her career in his hand and he knew it,” Eubanks said.
Back in 2014, Paula’s lawyers say Lythgoe texted her, "When you get back to LA will you please make love to me! Slowly and lovingly!" When Paula didn’t respond to him, he texted again, saying, "I'll take that as a YES then!"
Then, again, in 2014, Lythgoe said, "I'll come if you promise a big wet kiss! With tongues! Is a small grope of the ass asking too much?" Later, that same year, he allegedly texted, "You love me like a relation I love you like a girlfriend. I could easily be your fucking cousin? Ha Ha."
In Nigel Lythgoe’s response to the suit, his lawyers included emails from Abdul which he says were friendly and loving exchanges. Abdul’s attorneys fired back, saying she was appeasing Lythgoe’s ego with "positive messaging and seeming adoration...defenses that many women like Ms. Abdul had to adopt to deal with men who abuse their power."
See original story below.
Paula Abdul is accusing former American Idol and So You Think You Can Dance producer Nigel Lythgoe of multiple counts of sexual assault.
Rolling Stone reports Abdul filed a lawsuit in Los Angeles County Superior Court on Friday, alleging Lythgoe sexually assaulted her on two occasions while she served as a judge of the reality show competitions.
Abdul is suing Lythgoe and the show’s production companies, 19 Entertainment Inc., FremantleMedia North America Inc., American Idol Productions Inc. and Dance Nation Productions Inc., for sexual assault/battery, sexual harassment, gender violence and negligence.
The first incident took place in the early 2000s when Abdul was a judge on American Idol. According to Abdul, Lythgoe assaulted her in an elevator while traveling for an Idol audition.
“Lythgoe shoved Abdul against the wall, then grabbed her genitals and breasts, and began shoving his tongue down her throat,” the suit said. “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.”
Years later, when Abdul was a judge for So You Think You Can Dance, Lythgoe allegedly assaulted her again during a dinner at his home.
“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 suit claimed. “Abdul pushed Lythgoe off of her, explaining that she was not interested in his advances and immediately left.”
Abdul filed the suit under California’s Sexual Abuse and Cover-Up Accountability Act, which would allow the filing of lawsuits that would otherwise be outside the statute of limitations.
