Nigel Lythgoe is accused of sexually assaulting two women in 2003. Photo: Reuters
Four days after American pop singer Paula Abdul accused Nigel Lythgoe of sexually assaulting her, the British producer of American Idol (2002 to present) was on Jan 2 hit with a second sexual assault suit.
According to court documents obtained by American lifestyle publication People, Lythgoe, 74, was accused of negligence, sexual assault/battery, sexual harassment, gender violence and intentional infliction of emotional distress by two contestants on All American Girl, a 2003 competition show that he produced.
The women, identified in the documents as Jane Doe K.G. and Jane Doe K.L., alleged that Lythgoe would often interact with contestants and, on one occasion, “walked around the set and dressing rooms and openly swatted and groped the plaintiffs’ and other contestants’ buttocks” while they were wearing dance costumes.
Both women claimed that his behaviour was “openly accepted”, as “employees, contractors, representatives and agents saw this happen but did not act in any manner to condemn the action or prevent it from happening again”.
People also reported that Lythgoe made unwanted “sexual advances” towards the women after the show’s wrap party.
Filming took place in Los Angeles from January to May in 2003.
The legal documents stated that Lythgoe drove the women to his home. He allegedly pinned one woman against a grand piano and forcefully kissed her.
Abdul, 61, sued Lythgoe on Dec 29, citing she was sexually assaulted during their time working together on American Idol in the early 2000s.
In the lawsuit, she said that during one of the early seasons of the reality singing competition, Lythgoe shoved her against the wall of a hotel lift, grabbed her genitals and breasts and began “shoving his tongue down her throat”.
Lythgoe has denied Abdul’s allegations, saying that he would “fight this appalling smear with everything I have”. – The Straits Times/Asia News Network
