Former ‘SYTYCD’ Judge Nigel Lythgoe Hit With 4th Sexual Assault Lawsuit
Nigel Lythgoe is facing his fourth sexual assault lawsuit in two months following his So You Think You Can Dance exit.
An unnamed woman identified as Jane Doe filed a complaint on Tuesday, March 5, in the Los Angeles Superior Court, according to documents obtained by Us Weekly. Lythgoe, 74, is being sued for sexual battery, gender violence, sexual harassment and intentional inflectional of emotional distress following a 2018 incident.
According to the filing, the woman was with Lythgoe at his residence when he “suddenly forced” himself on her by “shoving his knee between her legs” as he backed her against a wall and “started licking the plaintiff’s neck, touching her genitalia and groping her all over.” The documents claim that the woman “tried to push away” from Lythgoe, but he had her “pinned against the wall so that she could not move” and he continued to grope and kiss her.
The woman claimed that once she was able to “break free” of Lythgoe, she “immediately left the property” but was “so shaken by the attack that she had to pull her car over only a block away” from his house. She then “sat in her car shaking and crying” for around 30 minutes before she was “able to drive the remainder of the way home.”
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The documents allege that since the incident, the accuser has suffered “severe emotional and psychological distress and embarrassment,” all of which have “greatly impacted her professional and personal life.” In addition to experiencing “debilitating anxiety,” the woman claims her marriage was also “gravely impacted” and ultimately ended in divorce.
Due to becoming “withdrawn” in relationships and experiencing “anxiety and distress when touched by other persons,” the woman said that she no longer feels like the “confident, capable and independent” person she was before the alleged incident.
After filing the claims, Jane Doe’s lawyer, Melissa N. Eubanks, issued a statement to Us on Monday which read, “We far too often hear the stories of women who have been punished by superiors for rebuking unwanted sexual advances. Our Jane Doe’s experience with Mr. Lythgoe is no different. After more than a decade-long professional and cordial relationship, Mr. Lythgoe allegedly forced himself upon our client during what was supposed to be a business meeting and then terminated their relationship when she did not acquiesce. We hope that stories like this will become a thing of the past, and we continue to be proud to support the women who are finally standing up to say: ‘enough is enough.’”
This latest filing against Lythgoe comes just two weeks after a different unnamed woman filed a similar complaint on February 22. In documents obtained by Us, the alleged victim accused Lythgoe of sexual assault and battery, gender violence and intentional infliction of emotional distress after meeting in a hotel in 2016.
Lythgoe’s attorney denied the claims at the time, alleging that the incident “never” occurred. “The easily verifiable facts are that Nigel was at a public event, with his then-girlfriend, miles from Beverly Hills on the night in question, as numerous witnesses will confirm,” the lawyer said in a statement. “We look forward to the prompt dismissal of this frivolous lawsuit.”
Monday’s lawsuit is the fourth against Lythgoe since he stepped down from his role on SYTYCD season 18 in January. The allegations began in December 2023 when Paula Abdul sued Lythgoe after he allegedly assaulted her multiple times over the years while the pair worked together on American Idol and SYTYCD. (Lythgoe served as a producer on Idol from 2002 to 2014 and worked as a judge and executive producer on SYTYCD since 2005.)
According to documents obtained by Us, Abdul’s suit alleged that Lythgoe “verbally insulted and belittled” her before she took her Idol gig and that he continued to bully her during her time on the reality series. Abdul, 61, also claimed that he sexually assaulted her in a hotel elevator while they were traveling for Idol auditions.
Following her time on Idol, Abdul briefly joined the judging panel of SYTYCD. Elsewhere in the lawsuit, she claimed that she witnessed Lythgoe sexually assault one of her assistants without consent.
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Lythgoe subsequently denied Abdul’s claims. “To say that I am shocked and saddened by the allegations made against me by Paula Abdul is a wild understatement,” he said in a December 2023 statement to Us. “For more than two decades, Paula and I have interacted as dear — and entirely platonic — friends and colleagues. Yesterday, however, out of the blue, I learned of these claims in the press and I want to be clear: not only are they false, they are deeply offensive to me and to everything I stand for.”
He continued, “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. But I can promise that I will fight this appalling smear with everything I have.”
Another lawsuit was also filed against Lythgoe in January, by two contestants on the 2003 competition series All American Girl. The two women accused him of forcibly trying to kiss them after a wrap party in 2003.
Us Weekly has reached out to Lythgoe for comment.
If you or someone you know has been sexually assaulted, contact the National Sexual Assault Hotline at 1-800-656-HOPE (4673).
