Paula Abdul accuses 'American Idol' producer of sexual assault: Lawsuit

Paula Abdul accused former "American Idol" producer Nigel Lythgoe of sexual assault in a new lawsuit, alleging he assaulted her in the early 2000s while she served as a judge on the reality television competition. 

The lawsuit, filed Friday in Los Angeles, also claims that Lythgoe assaulted Abdul after she left "American Idol" and worked as a judge on Lythgoe’s show "So You Think You Can Dance," according to The Associated Press.

Abdul’s lawyer Douglas Johnson on Saturday said: "It was clearly a difficult decision to make, but Ms. Abdul knows that she stands both in the shoes and on the shoulders of many other similarly situated survivors, and she is determined to see that justice is done."

Lythgoe denied the allegations and said he was "shocked and saddened" to hear them. 

"While Paula’s history of erratic behavior is well known, I can’t pretend to understand exactly why she would file a lawsuit that she must know is untrue," he said. 

The lawsuit states that Abdul remained quiet about the allegations for years due to fear of retaliation. 

Abdul was one of the original "American Idol" judges from 2002 to 2009, and as a judge on "So You Think You Can Dance" from 2015 to 2016. Abdul has not worked with Lythgoe since.

She also served as a judge on other popular TV shows such as "The X Factor" and "The Masked Dancer."

Abdul filed the lawsuit just before a California law's Dec. 31 deadline that opened a one-year window for sexual abuse lawsuits to be filed after the statute of limitations has passed.

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