When Nigel joked about abusing Paula Abdul in old interview: I wanted to be next person to abuse her

American singer and talent show judge Paula Abdul has filed a lawsuit against British television executive Nigel Lythgoe alleging sexual assault. The lawsuit was filed in Los Angeles County on December 29, 2023. In the complaint, Paula Abdul claimed that there have been multiple instances of assault that occurred while they were working on popular American reality shows. Now, an older interview has resurfaced of the pair where Nigel had expressed his intent to “abuse her.”

Old interview of Nigel-Paula reappears

In 2015, Nigel had spoken to the Daily Beast about how Paula was mistreated by another fellow judge on the panel of the reality show. During the interview, Nigel said that they have known each other for so long. "To be honest, I was an admirer of Paula back in the UK before I came here to the States. To be able to work with her on ‘Idol’ for all those years and see how she was mistreated by Simon," he said. Paula on this had said, “Oh please.”

The television executive didn't stop there and he continued, "So abused and mistreated, I wanted to be the next person to abuse her.”

Paula Abdul sues Nigel Lythgoe over alleged Sexual Assault

Paula Abdul has alleged that there have been several incidents of assault that took place during their collaboration on the popular TV show. She said that the first assault happened in 2001 during the regional audition for American Idol in the early 2000s. She alleged that Lythgoe assaulted her in a lift at their hotel and another one happened at his house. She also claimed to have witnessed him assaulting an assistant during a filming in Las Vegas.

She has sued Nigel Lythgoe and the production companies of the shows under the charges of sexual assault and battery, sexual harassment, gender violence and negligence.

Nigel Lythgoe denies sexual assault claims

Nigel Lythgoe, however, denied all the allegations made by Paula Abdul. In a chat with TMZ, he described the allegations as false and deeply offensive. He also said that he is saddened by the allegations made against him by Paula as for the years they have interacted with friends and colleagues.