Paula Abdul’s Sexual Assault Suit Against Nigel Lythgoe Gets 2025 Trial Date, settles with American Idol producers
Paula Abdul will get the jury trial she requested when she filed a sexual assault and battery suit against Nigel Lythgoe late last year.
The former American Idol and So You Think You Can Dance judge will face off against her former boss who executive produced both Idol and SYTYCD starting on July 28, 2025, a L.A. Superior Court judge announced on Tuesday (April 30)
According to Deadline, The date was made public on Abdul’s lawsuit in a Case Management hearing Tuesday morning.
Abdul mediated a settlement with parties Fremantle, American Idol productions, 19Entertainment
While Lythgoe will face trial next year, his former fellow defendants are now off the hook, at least tentatively. Following up on an April 23 filing statement reveals a settlement between the Johnson & Johnson LLP represented Abdul and FremantleMedia North America and American Idols Productions.
Paula Abdul Accuses Nigel Lythgoe of “Victim Shaming”
“The parties went to mediation, and the corporate defendants settled out,” Douglas Johnson informed LASC Judge Thomas Long of the deal reached on March 18 with the O’Melveny & Myers LLP represented companies. Additional defendants 19 Entertainment and Dance Nation Productions also reached an undisclosed agreement with Abdul.
Nigel Lythgoe Calls Paula Abdul a Drug-Fueled Fabulist Amid Sexual Assault Allegations
Deadline hears plaintiff Abdul was “satisfied” with the outcome of the settlement.
Paula Abdul describes two incidents in which she claims Nigel Lythgoe sexually assaulted her
In her lawsuit, Abdul describes two incidents where she claims Nigel sexually assaulted her. In the early seasons of American Idol, she claims Lythgoe grabbed her breasts and genitals and tried to kiss her while the crew was out on the road to film auditions.
Additionally, she claims that in 2015, after signing a new contract to serve as judge on SYTYCD, Lythgoe forced himself on top of her while she was on a couch trying to kiss her. He invited her to his home under the guise that he wanted to discuss business, she said. Also in 2015, Paula claims she witnessed Lythgoe groping one of her assistants.
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 in March, making for a total of five women formally accusing Lythgoe of sexual assault and/or battery.
