31 December 2023 , 10:36
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Nigel Lythgoe said he wanted to be the next person to abuse Paula Abdul after she was mistreated by Simon Cowell, in an unearthed interview from 2017 amid fresh claims that he sexually assaulted the hitmaker.
The American Idol producer Nigel has denied Paula's "shocking" sexual assault claim after the 61-year-old claimed in court papers she was the victim of two assaults by the 74-year-old. A lawsuit filed on Friday in California accused Lythgoe of "sexual assaults and harassment" while the pair worked on US reality shows American Idol and 'So You Think You Can Dance?'.
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READ MORE: American Idol producer Nigel Lythgoe denies Paula Abdul’s 'shocking' sexual assault claim
Paula and Nigel worked together on various talent shows in America (zz/Raoul Gatchalian/STAR MAX/IPx)
Nigel has denied any claims made against him (zz/Michael Germana/STAR MAX/IPx)And now it has been unearthed that in 2017, in an interview with The Daily Beast, Nigel seemingly joked and said that he wanted to be "the next person to abuse" Paula after she was "mistreated" by Simon Cowell.
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In the article, the interviewer talks about the pair's "chemistry" and how they "needle each other" and "mock each other". The interviewer added: "The crucial thing is that they so clearly like each other."
Speaking to the publication almost seven years ago, Lythgoe gushed at the time that he and Paula had known each other "for so long", adding: "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..."
Abdul then chimed in with "Oh, please", before Lythgoe added: "So abused and mistreated. I wanted to be the next person to abuse her."
This comes after Lythgoe released a statement to US outlet TMZ, denying the claims that Abdul has made about him. Speaking to the site, he said: "To say that I am shocked and saddened by the allegations made against me by Paula Abdul is a wild understatement. 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. 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."