'Purely Fictional': Nigel Lythgoe Claims Paula Abdul 'Concocted' Sexual Assault Allegations, Accuses Her of 'Character Assassination'
Paula Abdul sued Nigel, accusing him of sexually assaulting her on two occasions — sparking a mountain of legal troubles for him.
April 16 2024, Published 2:00 p.m. ET
Nigel Lythgoe wants his day in court to duke it out with his former friend Paula Abdul. In documents obtained by RadarOnline.com, the embattled television executive, 74, is demanding a jury trial that he estimates could take up to 12 days to fight Abdul's "baseless" claims of sexual assault. He also accuses her of "character assassination."
Paula Abdul filed a lawsuit against Nigel in December 2023.
As this outlet reported, the Straight Up singer, 61, sued Lythgoe in December 2023, claiming he allegedly assaulted her on two occasions during her stints on American Idol and So You Think You Can Dance.
But Lythgoe called her claims against him "purely fictional" in the latest court documents filed on Monday.
He claimed she "concocted" the accusations that "amount to an unjustified and baseless character assassination, with careless disregard for the statutory authority making these allegations untimely."
Remember, Abdul filed her lawsuit under the Sexual Abuse and Cover Up Accountability Act, which went into effect on January 1, 2023, giving adult survivors more time to take legal action in cases with expired statutes of limitations.
Nigel denied her allegations, claiming she provided "absolutely no substantiating evidence" to back them up.
However, Lythgoe said Abdul provided "absolutely no substantiating evidence" to back up her allegations, stating that both alleged incidents — which she said happened at a hotel after a taping of Idol and in his home while they were judges on SYTYCD — "did not occur." Not only did he insist they didn't happen, but he emphasized that the pair "continued to work together on several new ventures, as well as remaining personal friends" after the dates of her claims.
"Plaintiff attempts to revive her expired claims on the basis of the Sexual Abuse and Cover Up Accountability Act (the "Act"), which went into effect last year and gives adult plaintiffs who satisfy certain criteria more time to file expired claims. However, the Complaint fails to allege facts necessary to come within the reach of that statute, and these defects are incapable of being cured," Lythgoe charged in the latest legal filing.
RadarOnline.com published private text messages between the two, in which Nigel begged her to "jump in the pool naked with me."
"Among other things, Plaintiff has not alleged a 'cover up' (nor could she) as required by the statute, and, with respect to the purported 2015 incident, she has not alleged a 'sexual assault' under that statute. Even assuming Plaintiff had met the requirements to revive a claim under the Act, which she did not, and cannot, do — she still could not revive her claims against Mr. Lythgoe, an individual defendant, on the basis of the alleged 2002 incident because only claims against entities can be revived under the provision."
Lythgoe vowed he "will prove the falsity of these allegations and the Plaintiff's improper motives for bringing them" when he gets his day in court.
We told you first that Abdul accused Lythgoe of "victim shaming" her, claiming he "cherry picked" emails of their private correspondents to "discredit her claims." RadarOnline.com also broke the story — publishing several text messages between the two, in which Lythgoe begged her to "jump in the pool naked with me" and to "gently make love before my drugs wear off."
Abdul isn't the only one suing Lythgoe for alleged assault.
Paula sued Nigel last year, claiming he sexually assaulted her twice during her 'American Idol' and 'So You Think You Can Dance' stints.
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Three other women have come forward with accusations against the SYTYCD executive — who recently stepped down from his position on the competition dance show.
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