US singer Paula Abdul is suing British TV executive Nigel Lythgoe over an alleged sexual assault, according to American media reports.
Ms Adbul alleges sexual assaults while the pair worked together on talent shows American Idol and So You Think You Can Dance.
Mr Lythgoe was an executive producer on American Idol and a co-judge on the latter show.
According to court filings, Ms Abdul alleges a sexual assault took place during an early season of American Idol in the early 2000s.
She claims Mr Lythgoe sexually assaulted her in an elevator, before she escaped and informed her management from her hotel room.
However, the suit claims she chose not to take action “for fear that Lythgoe would have her fired from American Idol.”
The next alleged incident is said to have occurred a decade later at a meeting at his home in Los Angeles in 2015.
According to Ms Abdul’s claim, Mr Lythgoe allegedly “forced himself on top of Abdul while she was seated on his couch and attempted to kiss her while proclaiming that the two would make an excellent 'power couple’”.
She then pushed him off her and left, the court filings claim.
Ms Abdul claims she witnessed Mr Lythgoe assault one of his assistants during the filming of So You Think You Can Dance while in Las Vegas.
Neither Ms Abdul nor Mr Lythgoe has commented publicly on the lawsuit.
The suit which claims sexual assault/battery, sexual harassment, gender violence and negligence was was filed under California’s Sexual Abuse and Cover Up Accountability Act.
This allows civil sexual assault suits to be made even if the statute of limitations has expired.
Until January 2026, survivors of sexual assault can file a civil claim in the state over crimes that occurred on or after 1 January 2009.
Lythgoe, who worked on shows like Blind Date and Gladiators in the 1990s, made his name as a judge on ITV talent show, Popstars, in 2000.
In 2002 he later launched American Idol in the US, with Simon Cowell one of the three main judges along with Randy Jackson and Ms Abdul.
The Standard has contacted Mr Lythgoe's office for comment.
