During a press conference for his upcoming TV show Superstars Of Dance, former American Idol producer, Nigel Lythgoe, had a response to Paula Abdul’s accusations that Idol producers put Paula Goodspeed in front of the judges, despite knowing she was stalking Paula:
“You do not take somebody in that room that you believe is a danger to herself or a danger to Paula, ” Nigel Lythgoe told PEOPLE at Thursday’s Superstars of Dance press day in Los Angeles. “That would not enter our heads.
“The very fact that this happened, I’m really sad for her family, ” said Lythgoe. “It happened about four weeks ago. For it to come back four weeks later, I’m really sad we’re still talking about it.”
Lythgoe insists that he had no idea Goodspeed was stalking Paula, and that if Paula had warned him about her, he doesn’t recall it:
“[Goodspeed] had been through an audition process with the producers, an audition process with the executive producers, and we were wheeling her in as a huge fan of Paula Abdul, ” Lythgoe said. “This is what we knew: She was a great fan, she was a lovely girl. And a great fan of Paula.”
Nigel says he he harbors no ill will toward Paula, that the incident wasn’t her fault, and that for her family’s sake, the matter should be dropped.
Unbelievably, I think I’m on Team Nigel on this one.
Meanwhile, something tells me MSNBC’s Courtney Hazlett didn’t get the memo from Paula’s peeps (who I bet planted this item in the first place) that the negotiations for her next Idol contract were moving along just fine:
Seems a little strange to air so much dirty laundry just weeks before the new season of …Idol premieres, but as it turns out, Abdul might not have much reason to care about awkwardness. That because she seriously considering not going back to …Idol at all.
…Paula has a reality show on MTV (‹Rah! Paula Abdul Cheerleading Bowl) and her jewelry line, says a source close to Abdul. …She got no reason to put herself through the stress of the show if she doesnt want to. She all but done; and given her other successes, she has no reason to be afraid about speaking out now.
Paula doesn’t need the biggest show on television because she’s selling cheap trinkets on HSN and has some crappy little reality show on MTV? Right.
An …Idol source says that the scenario ‘ one that includes Abdul leaving as early as the pretaped auditions ‘ is one theyre preparing for. …Obviously we have three other judges who can carry the show, and if she leaves before the live shows, the auditions can be edited so that she hardly noticed.
I’ll bet my hat this doesn’t happen.
