Nigel Lythgoe is exiting So You Suppose You Can Dance after quite a few sexual assault complaints.
Lythgoe, the co-creator, lead decide and exec producer of So You Suppose You Can Dance, is the topic of two sexual misconduct lawsuits, together with one filed by Paula Abdul who accused him of assaulting her twice over the previous 20 years.
“I’ve knowledgeable the producers of So You Suppose You Can Dance of my resolution to step again from collaborating on this 12 months’s collection,” Lythgoe mentioned. “I did so with a heavy coronary heart however fully voluntarily as a result of this nice program has all the time been about dance and dancers, and that’s the place its focus wants to stay. Within the meantime, I’m dedicating myself to clearing my identify and restoring my fame.”
19 Leisure, Dick Clark Productions, and Fox confirmed the upcoming season of So You Suppose You Can Dance will proceed, “though with out Nigel Lythgoe to make sure the present stays dedicated to the contestants, who’ve labored extremely laborious for the chance to compete on our stage. No resolution has been made as to a alternative decide for this season, which is able to premiere on Fox on Monday, March 4”.
The transfer additionally comes a number of days after it emerged that Lythgoe is the topic of an investigation by Sony Footage Tv’s 19 Leisure, which co-produces SYTYCD with Dick Clark Productions.
As SYTYCD producer, 19 Leisure is listed as a defendant in Abdul’s swimsuit, which alleges a 2015 incident throughout Season 12 of the dance competitors at Lythgoe’s Los Angeles house. He has denied the accusations, calling them “unfaithful.”
On December 29, Abdul filed a sexual assault and gender violence lawsuit in opposition to Lythgoe, an exec producer on American Idol, over a number of alleged assaults.
The primary alleged assault occurred “throughout one in every of American Idol’ s preliminary seasons” in a lodge elevator whereas the present was on the highway. “Lythgoe shoved Abdul in opposition to the wall, then grabbed her genitals and breasts, and started shoving his tongue down her throat,” the criticism acknowledged.
The second assault supposedly occurred over a decade later in 2015 throughout Season 12 of SYTYCD at Lythgoe’s LA house. “Towards the tip of the night, Lythgoe pressured himself on prime of Abdul whereas she was seated on his sofa and tried to kiss her whereas proclaiming that the 2 would make a wonderful ‘energy couple,’” the submitting mentioned.
The second lawsuit in opposition to Lythgoe is expounded to alleged sexual assault and harassment through the manufacturing of the short-lived ABC actuality collection All American Lady.
The incident within the second criticism comes from two All American Lady “contestants”. It allegedly passed off after the present’s finale get together, when Lythgoe drove the duo to an L.A. house as a substitute of a promised studio to satisfy up with others.
