Nigel Lythgoe Hit with FOURTH Sexual Assault lawsuit after hitting back at Paula Abdul
Only hours after news broke about American Idol and So You Think You Can Dance producer Nigel Lythgoe refuting Paula Abdul’s sexual assault claims, in the strongest of terms comes ANOTHER lawsuit. That’s a total of four suits and five plaintiffs.
The new lawsuit alleges that the assault took place in 2018 at Lythgoe’s residence. “Lythgoe’s sexual assault and battery were so traumatizing that Plaintiff no longer feels like the confident, capable, and independent woman that she was before the incident,” says Jane Doe of the alleged incident in a filing from Tuesday (March 5) in LA Superior Court.
“Lythgoe continued to grope and tried to kiss Plaintiff”
According to the suit, Deadline reports:
“After a few minutes of professional discourse, Lythgoe suddenly forced Plaintiff against the property’s exterior side wall by shoving his knee between her legs and then started licking Plaintiff’s neck, touching her genitalia, and grouping her all over. Plaintiff tried to push Lythgoe away from her but he had her pinned against the wall so that she could not move. Lythgoe continued to grope and tried to kiss Plaintiff.”
“Once Plaintiff could break free of Lythgoe, she immediately left the property and drove away. However, Plaintiff was so shaken by the attack that she had to pull her car over only a block away from Lythgoe’s residence. Plaintiff then sat in her car shaking and crying for approximately thirty minutes before she was able to drive the remainder of the way home.”
“As a result of the indicent (sic), Plaintiff has suffered severe emotional and psychological distress, guilt, humiliation, and embarrassment, all of which have greatly impacted her professional and personal life.”
The new plaintiff had a decade long professional career with Lythgoe
The new plaintiff is represented by Johnson & Johnson, who are also repping another Jane Doe who sued Lythgoe in late February over a 2016 assault in a chauffeured car. The firm is also repping Paula Abdul.
“After more than a decade-long professional and cordial relationship, Mr. Lythgoe allegedly forced himself upon our client during what was supposed to be a business meeting and then terminated their relationship when she did not acquiesce,” the Senior Counsel with Johnson & Johnson added. “We hope that stories like this will become a thing of the past, and we continue to be proud to support the women who are finally standing up to say: ‘enough is enough.”
Lythgoe is also being sued by two women who were contestants on an ABC reality show he produced on ABC 20 years ago.
In Lythgoe’s latest filing, he called Abdul a drug-fueled “fabulist” who lied to garner pity and attention.
