Paula Abdul Accuses ‘So You Think You Can Dance’ Judge Nigel Lythgoe of Sexual Assault

Paula Abdul stepped into the spotlight in the 1980s, the singer of hits such as “Straight Up” and “Opposites Attract.” In the 2000s, she gained a new generation of fans as a judge on broadcast TV shows such as American Idol and So You Think You Can Dance. But in a bombshell lawsuit filed Friday in Los Angeles, Abdul claimed that the second act of her career was marred with sexual assault, verbal abuse, and bullying from show producer and—at times—fellow judge Nigel Lythgoe.

Neither Abdul nor Lythgoe have responded to Vanity Fair’s request for comment, but in legal filings reported on by Rolling Stone, Abdul alleges that Lythgoe—a British producer known for a slew of talent competition shows—sexually assaulted her during one of the earlier seasons of American Idol, which launched on Fox in June 2002 with judges Randy Jackson, Simon Cowell, and Abdul. Abdul left the series in 2009.

According to the filing, which was also obtained by TMZ, Abdul told her representative about the alleged attack immediately following. However, the suit claims that Abdul feared retaliation and did not report the incident to management.

The filing also claims that Lythgoe attacked her a second time years later, shortly after she’d signed a new contract to judge So You Think You Can Dance, which Lythgoe co-created, produced, and was on-camera as a fellow judge. Abdul again kept the alleged incident to herself, fearing that a report would cost her her job. 

She had also signed non-disclosure agreements with both shows, the suit claims, which prohibited the disclosure of “derogatory information.”