Paula Abdul fires back at Nigel Lythgoe’s recent filing, accusing him of “victim shaming”
Paula Abdul has responded to Nigel Lythgoe’s new legal filing, in which he accuses her of being a drug-fueled fabulist, and provided friendly tweets and emails from her which he considers proof that the two had a good relationship.
The pop singer and dancer has accused Lythgoe of two incidents of sexual assault while she worked as a judge on both American Idol and So You Think You Can Dance. Lythgoe served as producer on both shows. She has fired back at his response, accusing him of “victim shaming.”
“Mr. Lythgoe’s answer to Ms. Abdul’s complaint is classic victim shaming,” reads a statement from Abdul’s lawyers obtained by Entertainment Weekly. “Mr. Lythgoe fails to appreciate that he held a position of power over Ms. Abdul. He was a producer on American Idol and SYTYCD and she was the talent. He held the cards to her career in his hand and he knew it. It thus is no surprise that Ms. Abdul placated to his ego with positive messaging and seeming adoration. These are the defenses that many women like Ms. Abdul had to adopt to deal with men who abuse their power.”
Indeed, the material Lythgoe provided came from 2014 or so when Abdul was working for him. There is a glaring lack of recent correspondence in the material that he provided. For her part, Abdul provided messages from the time period in which Lythgoe sexually harassed her.
Abdul provided messages in which Lythgoe sexually harassed her
“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. “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!’”
Another alleged text, from April, 10, 2014, and reported by TMZ is a response to a message Abdul sent Nigel about So You Think You Can Dance auditions in Las Vegas to which Lythgoe allegedly responded, “I’ll come if you promise a big wet kiss! With tongues! Is a small grope of the ass asking too much?”
A few months later, in July 2014, Lythgoe allegedly texted her “You love me like a relation I love you like a girlfriend. I could easily be your f****** cousin? Ha Ha.”
Abdul claims Lythgoe verbally assaulted her on multiple occasions
Abdul’s attorney also claims Lythgoe verbally assaulted her on multiple occasions, which the statement says says “are evidence of the frequent abusive behavior that Ms. Abdul was subjected to during her time on American Idol and SYTYCD.”
Lythgoe stepped down from producing and judging duties on the most recent season of So You Think You Can Dance, which is airing now, after two anonymous women filed another sexual assault lawsuit. An additional lawsuit was filed by another woman in February, and a fourth lawsuit was filed Tuesday, making for a total of five women formally accusing Lythgoe of sexual assault and/or battery.
