Paula Abdul Sues 'American Idol' Producer Nigel Lythgoe for Sexual Assault

Paula Abdul has sued Nigel Lythgoe, executive producer of American Idol and So You Think You Can Dance, for sexual assaulting her.

“Lythgoe shoved Abdul against the wall, then grabbed her genitals and b------, and began shoving his tongue down her throat,” the complaint states. “Abdul attempted to push Lythgoe away from her. When the doors to the elevator for her door opened, Abdul ran out of the elevator and to her hotel room. Abdul quickly called one of her representatives in tears to inform them of the assault.”

Later on in 2014, the "Straight Up" singer, 61, was a judge on So You Think You Can Dance, and when Lythgoe invited her to his home for dinner, she thought it would be a professional event.

“Toward the end of the evening, Lythgoe forced himself on top of Abdul while she was seated on his couch and attempted to kiss her while proclaiming that the two would make an excellent ‘power couple,’” Rolling Stone reported the suit said. “Abdul pushed Lythgoe off of her, explaining that she was not interested in his advances and immediately left.”

Abdul also accused Lythgoe of verbal harassment and bullying, and the TV star claims she was discriminated against, as she was paid less than the male judges on American Idol. (Abdul was a judge from 2002 to 2009.)

Abdul also claims Lythgoe sexually assaulted one of her assistants in April 2015. He “approached Abdul and April from behind pressed himself up against April and began to grope her. April did not consent," the documents read.

“For years, Abdul has remained silent about the sexual assaults and harassment she experienced on account of Lythgoe due to fear of speaking out against one of the most well-known producers of television competition shows who could easily break her career as a television personality and of being ostracized and blackballed by an industry that had a pattern of protecting powerful men and silencing survivors of sexual assault and harassment,” the lawsuit states.

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Abdul is now speaking up because she signed non-disclosure agreements for both shows, which prevented her from saying anything derogatory. The choreographer filed under California's Sexual Abuse and Cover-Up Accountability Act, which lengthens the time to file certain sexual abuse lawsuits that would otherwise be outside the statute of limitations.