Paula Abdul Responds to Nigel Lythgoe's Attempts to Have Sexual Assault Lawsuit Dismissed, Provides Alleged Receipts

Paula Abdul is speaking out via her legal team after the latest development in her lawsuit against Nigel Lythgoe.

The “Straight Up” pop star and American Idol judge sued the TV producer in December 2023, accusing him of sexual assault and harassment.

At the time, he denied the claims in a statement. However, multiple other lawsuits have accused him of similar things. In early January, Nigel gave up his spot on the judging panel for So You Think You Can Dance.

On Tuesday (March 5), Nigel asked the courts to dismiss Paula‘s lawsuit. Court documents describe him as a “victim of Abdul’s appalling lies” and provided alleged text exchanges. It also alleged that the accusations had a “life-changing impact” on Nigel‘s life.

Paula responded via her legal team.

Keep reading to find out more…

In a statement issued on Wednesday, Paula‘s legal team accuses Nigel of “classic victim shaming” (via Deadline).

The statement also alleges that she has her own receipts that display examples of harassment.

“While Mr. Lythgoe’s answer cherry-picks from years of messages with Ms. Abdul to try to discredit her claims, what his selections fail to show are the numerous instances of overt sexual harassment he forced Ms. Abdul to tolerate,” the statement reads.

It continues with multiple examples: “On March 8, 2014, Mr. Lythgoe wrote to Ms. Abdul: ‘When you get back to LA will you please make love to me! Slowly and lovingly!’ When Ms. Abdul failed to respond, Mr. Lythgoe proclaimed: ‘I’ll take that as a YES then!’ On April 10, 2014, he similarly wrote, in response to a message from Ms. Abdul about SYTYCD auditions in Las Vegas: ‘I’ll come if you promise a big wet kiss! With tongues! Is a small grope of the ass asking too much?’

“In July 2014, Mr. Lythgoe even acknowledged the inappropriateness of his behavior to Ms. Abdul: ‘you love me like a relation I love you like a girlfriend. I could easily be your f-cking cousin? Ha Ha’. There are several instances of such verbal assaults against Ms. Abdul, which are evidence of the frequent abusive behavior that Ms. Abdul was subjected to during her time on American Idol and SYTYCD.”

At the time of Paula‘s lawsuit, one of Nigel‘s old interviews went viral. In it, he joked about wanting to be “the next person to abuse her.”