Firing back at the embattled TV producer following his response to her lawsuit, the former 'American Idol' judge's attorney says that his statement is 'classic victim shaming.'
- Mar 7, 2024
AceShowbiz - Paula Abdul's legal team has fired back at Nigel Lythgoe after he denied her sexual abuse claims leveled at him. After the 74-year-old TV producer disputed her allegations by providing texts that he says prove their "very friendly and loving relationship" prior to the lawsuit, her attorney Melissa Eubanks accuses him of victim shaming.
"Mr. Lythgoe's answer to Ms. Abdul's complaint is classic victim shaming," reads a statement issued by Abdul's lawyer on Wednesday, March 6. "These are the defenses that many women like Ms. Abdul had to adopt to deal with men who abuse their power."
The singer/dancer's legal team insists the texts and tweets Lythgoe peppered throughout his filing earlier this week only show what a good relationship he and Abdul had during some of the same periods in which she alleges he assaulted her.
Her legal team insists the emails Lythgoe referenced in his docs were just Abdul placating his ego with "positive messaging and seeming adoration ... defenses that many women like Ms. Abdul had to adopt to deal with men who abuse their power." They add, "He held the cards to her career in his hand and he knew it."
In the statement, Abdul's legal team also includes several text messages from him showing numerous instances of overt sexual 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," they say.
According to the filing, "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?' "
It continues to allege, "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**king 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'."
In December 2023, Abdul filed a lawsuit against Lythgoe under a California law that extends the statute of limitations for sexual assault claims. She claims that Lythgoe assaulted her in an elevator during her "American Idol" tenure and again during her time on "So You Think You Can Dance".
Lythgoe has denied the allegations and vowed to "fight this appalling smear with everything I have." In his legal response filed on Tuesday, March 5, he dubbed the allegations "false and despicable" and called Abdul a "well-documented fabulist" with a history of "telling wild stories" to gain attention.
