Talent show judge Nigel Lythgoe faces another sexual assault lawsuit
US talent show judge and British TV producer Nigel Lythgoe has been accused of sexual assault and battery.
In the lawsuit filed in Los Angeles, the 74-year-old is accused of attacking a woman in early spring 2018, "groping her all over" after he had "pinned" her against the wall.
Court documents said the woman was left feeling "horribly violated" and suffered "severe emotional and psychological distress" as a result of the alleged assault, which also "gravely" impacted her marriage, almost resulting in divorce.
Lythgoe is facing claims of sexual assault/battery, gender violence, sexual harassment and intentional infliction of emotional distress in the lawsuit.
Earlier this year he announced he was stepping down as a judge on So You Think You Can Dance amid other lawsuits accusing him of sexual assault.
Among those making allegations against Lythgoe is Paula Abdul, who claims he groped her breasts and genitals and "began shoving his tongue down her throat" in the early 2000s.
The singer was a judge on American Idol at the time, while Lythgoe was a producer on the show.
Representatives for Lythgoe have not commented on the latest allegation.
However, his official response to Abdul's claims, which was filed this week, stated that "sexual assault, sexual battery, sexual harassment, and gender violence are despicable, intolerable, and life-changing", but so too are false accusations of such crimes.
The court filing described the allegations as "the worst form of character assassination" and called the singer and TV personality "a well-documented fabulist, with a long history of telling wild stories that are untethered from reality and are primarily designed to attract attention and make Abdul appear to be the victim of dreadful misfortune".
Her accusations about Lythgoe are "pure fiction", the filing added.
'Nasty Nigel'
After stepping down from So You Think You Can Dance in January, Lythgoe said he was dedicating his time to clearing his name and restoring his reputation.
Lythgoe was an executive producer of British talent show Pop Idol and American Idol before co-creating and starring in the US series.
He was also a producer and appeared as a judge on Popstars, earning the nickname "Nasty Nigel" because of his cutting remarks to contestants.
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Melissa Eubanks, senior counsel with Johnson & Johnson, said of the new lawsuit: "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'."
