Paula Abdul accuses ‘American Idol’ producer Nigel Lythgoe of sexual assault in lawsuit

LOS ANGELES (AP) — Paula Abdul has filed a lawsuit accusing former “American Idol” producer Nigel Lythgoe of sexually assaulting her in the early 2000s when she was a judge on the reality competition show. The lawsuit also accuses Lythgoe of sexually assaulting Abdul after she left the show and became a judge in 2015 on Lythgoe’s other competition show “So You Think You Can Dance.” A lawyer for Lythgoe didn’t respond Saturday to a request for comment on the allegations. Abdul says she remained silent for years about the alleged assaults out of fear of retaliation by “one of the most well-known producers of television competition shows.”