Paula Abdul and Nigel Lythgoe have reached a settlement in their lawsuit.
According to court documents obtained by PEOPLE, the couple settled the case, in which Abdul accused the producer of sexual assault, in an “unconditional” manner on Monday, December 9.
The motion was originally filed on November 12, and a hearing on the motion to strike parts of Lythgoe’s answer to the amended complaint is scheduled for January 21, 2025, with a trial date of August 2025, although both dates are expected to be vacated once. the court orders dismissal.
Abdul, 62, spoke in an exclusive statement to PEOPLE on Friday, Dec. 13, saying she’s glad to finally come forward and hopes her story will inspire other women going through similar challenges. “I am grateful that this chapter has been successfully brought to a close and that I can now put it behind me,” she said. “This has been a long and difficult personal battle. I hope that my experience can serve as an inspiration to other women, who face similar struggles, to overcome their own challenges with dignity and respect, so that they too can turn the page and start a new chapter in their of life.”
In a separate statement to PEOPLE, Lythgoe said, “We live in a troubled time where a person is now automatically presumed guilty until proven innocent, a process that can take years. That’s why I, like Paula, am glad that I can put this behind me, I know the truth and that gives me great comfort.”
The settlement comes a year after Abdul sued Lythgoe, with whom she worked american idol and So you think you can dance, claiming he sexually assaulted her on two occasions – once during the early seasons Idol and once during her tenure at SYTYCD. She also accused him of sexually abusing her assistant.
Nigel Lythgoe and Paula Abdul.
FOX Image Collection via Getty
In October 2024, Abdul filed his first amended complaint, which included new details about the incidents and alleged he assaulted her a third time during the same incident involving her assistant.
Lythgoe filed a response to the filing that month, calling Abdul’s claims “vague as to both the timing of the alleged assault and the details of the alleged incident.” He wrote that they could not “form the basis of any of her claims against Lythgoe.”
He claimed that she “suddenly ‘remembered’ additional details”, which “stretches credulity that Abdul would allegedly remember witnessing the alleged assault of her assistant by Lythgoe in April 2015, yet apparently ‘forget’ until the filing of her FAC, that she was also allegedly assaulted at the same time — let alone that she can suddenly remember certain details about the alleged incident, as her FAC now alleges,” according to the documents.
In the filing, Lythgoe included several text messages between him and Abdul, in which she expressed her love for him and their friendship.
“It is inconceivable that Abdul would even tolerate Lythgoe’s physical proximity, let alone send him messages of adoration and sexually provocative jokes, if her allegations were true – which they clearly are not,” his filing states.
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Paula Abdul and Nigel Lythgoe.
Steve Granitz/WireImage; Paul Archuleta/Getty
Abdul’s attorney responded to Lythgoe’s claims in a statement to PEOPLE at the time, saying, “For Mr. Lythgoe to use the statements in this lawsuit to smear Ms. Abdul is not only a futile attempt to tarnish Ms. Abdul’s strong reputation, it is completely inappropriate , and Ms. Abdul will initiate proceedings to expunge Mr. Lythgoe’s submission from the record.”
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In the past, Abdul’s team called Lythgoe’s behavior “classic victim shaming.”
“Mr. Lythgoe does not appreciate that he had a position of power over Ms. Abdul. He was a producer on american idol and SYTYCD and she was a talent,” argued Abdul’s attorney, Melissa Eubanks. “He held the cards of her career in his hands and he knew it. So it’s no surprise that Mrs. Abdul soothed his ego with positive messages and apparent adoration. These are defenses that many women like Ms. Abdul have had to adopt to deal with men who abuse their power.”
If you or someone you know has been sexually assaulted, contact the National Sexual Assault Hotline at 1-800-656-HOPE (4673) or go to rainn.org.
Categories: Trends
Source: HIS Education