Paula Abdul and Nigel Lythgoe settle sexual assault lawsuit
By Lisa Respers France and Cheri Mossburg, CNN
(CNN) — A lawsuit which preceded “So You Think You Can Dance” judge and producer Nigel Lythgoe’s departure from the show has been settled.
According to court documents obtained by CNN, singer, dancer and former “American Idol” and “So You Think You Can Dance” judge Paula Abdul filed a request for dismissal with prejudice of her 2023 lawsuit against Lythgoe in which she accused him of sexual assault and harassment. The complaint, which was filed in Los Angeles County Superior Court and obtained by CNN at the time, outlined two separate alleged incidents that Abdul said occurred in the early 2000s and in 2015.
Lythgoe denied the allegations in a legal response filed in March 2024, calling them “false, despicable, intolerable, and life-changing.”
Terms of their settlement were not disclosed. In a statement to CNN on Friday, Abdul said she was now turning to her future.
“I am grateful that this chapter has successfully come to a close and is now something I can now put behind me,” she wrote. “This has been a long and hard-fought personal battle. I hope my experience can serve to inspire other women, facing similar struggles, to overcome their own challenges with dignity and respect, so that they too can turn the page and begin a new chapter of their lives.”
Lythgoe, too, said he was moving on from the legal dispute.
“We live in a troubling time where a person is now automatically assumed to be guilty until proven innocent, a process that can take years,” Lythgoe wrote in a statement to CNN. “That is why, like Paula, I am glad to be able to put this behind me. I know the truth and that gives me great comfort.”
The date of the notice of the settlement is listed as December 9, according to the court documents.
CNN’s Cheri Mossburg contributed to this story.
The-CNN-Wire
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