Nigel Lythgoe is facing more allegations of sexual assault.
Less than a week after Paula Abdul sued the 74-year-old TV producer and accused him of sexual assault and verbal abuse while they worked together on American Idol, two more reality stars have come forward with claims of sexual assault and filed a lawsuit against Nigel.
Keep reading to find out more…
On Tuesday (January 2), two unnamed contestants of the 2003 all-female reality competition show All American Girl filed a lawsuit and accused Nigel of negligence, sexual assault/battery, sexual harassment, gender violence, and intentional infliction of emotional distress, according to court documents obtained by People.
The lawsuit alleges that Nigel would often interact with the contestants and on one occasion, allegedly “walked around the set and dressing rooms and openly swatted and groped Plaintiffs’ and other contestants’ buttocks” while they were wearing their dance costumes.
The women claim that Nigel‘s behavior was “openly accepted” as “employees, contractors, representatives, and agents saw this happen but did not act in any manner to condemn the action or prevent it from happening again.”
Filming for the competition series ran from January 2003 to May 2003 and, in the lawsuit, the women claim that Nigel made unwanted “sexual advances” towards them at the wrap party.
Nigel allegedly took an “unusual interest” in one of the women and “insisted” for her to “ride in his car to go back to the studio where everyone else was going” after the party. The other woman saw Nigel‘s alleged actions and “decided to go with them to ensure her colleague was not left alone.”
Nigel allegedly took to the women back to his home in Los Angeles where they claimed to have rejected his alleged advances.
While at his house, Nigel allegedly lifted his sweater over one woman’s head “attempting to kiss her and pushing her body close to his,” and she allegedly “scrambled to release herself from his grasp.”
That same night, Nigel allegedly pinned the other woman “against a grand piano in the house, pushed himself against her body, and forced his mouth and tongue onto her despite her numerous statements telling him not to and attempts to pull her face away from his.”
While Nigel has not yet publicly addressed these new sexual assault claims, he did recently respond to Paula‘s.
