Paula Abdul has settled a lawsuit against Nigel Lythgoe accusing the former American Idol and So You Think You Can Dance producer of sexual assault.
Abdul on Thursday notified the court of a deal to resolve the case. Terms of the agreement weren’t disclosed.
In a statement, Abdul said she’s “grateful that this chapter has successfully come to a close and is now something I can now put behind me.”
Lythgoe said in a statement that “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 added, “That is why, like Paula, I am glad to be able to put this behind me. I know the truth and that gives me great comfort.”
The producer stepped back from his on-camera and behind-the-scenes roles on SYTYCD in the wake of allegations from numerous women accusing him of sexual assault.
Last year, Abdul filed a lawsuit against Lythgoe detailing two separate incidents of assault. One of the alleged incidents occurred in an elevator of a hotel they were staying while they traveling during one of the early seasons for American Idol. The lawsuit claimed Lythgoe shoved Abdul against a wall and “grabbed her genitals and breasts” before “shoving his tongue down her throat.”
She also claimed that Lythgoe assaulted her again in 2015 when he invited her to dinner at his home to discuss bringing her on as a judge on SYTYCD. Lythgoe “forced himself on top of Abdul while she was seated on his couch” and attempted to kiss her, the lawsuit said.
On both occasions, Abdul didn’t report the alleged assaults because of possible retaliation.
“For years, Abdul has remained silent about the sexual assaults and harassment she experienced on account of Lythgoe due to fear of speaking out against one of the most well-known producers of television competition shows who could easily break her career as a television personality and of being ostracized and blackballed by an industry that had a pattern of protecting powerful men and silencing survivors of sexual assault and harassment,” stated the complaint, filed in Los Angeles Superior Court.
Lythgoe was also sued earlier this year by a pair of unnamed contestants on “AAG,” which is believed to be a reference to reality series All American Girl. They accused him of making unwanted sexual advances and groping them inside his Los Angeles home in 2003
“I hope my experience can 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,” Abdul said in a statement.
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