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8 months ago
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So You Think You Can Dance co-creator and former judge Nigel Lythgoe has been accused of sexual assault for the fourth time in less than three months.
“Lythgoe’s sexual assault and battery were so traumatizing that Plaintiff no longer feels like the confident, capable, and independent woman that she was before the incident,” says Jane Doe of the alleged 2018 incident in a filing today in LA Superior Court.
Similar to an alleged 2015 attack Paula Abdul detailed in her own suit late last year, and the early January a sexual assault/battery, sexual harassment and negligence civil suit by Jane Doe K.G. and Jane Doe K.N., this latest Jane Doe’s claim occurred at Lythgoe’s LA residence. In this case a meeting that seemingly turned toxic fast:
After a few minutes of professional discourse, Lythgoe suddenly forced Plaintiff against the property’s exterior side wall by shoving his knee between her legs and then started licking Plaintiff’s neck, touching her genitalia, and grouping her all over. Plaintiff tried to push Lythgoe away from her but he had her pinned against the wall so that she could not move. Lythgoe continued to grope and tried to kiss Plaintiff.
Once Plaintiff could break free of Lythgoe, she immediately left the property and drove away. However, Plaintiff was so shaken by the attack that she had to pull her car over only a block away from Lythgoe’s residence. Plaintiff then sat in her car shaking and crying for approximately thirty minutes before she was able to drive the remainder of the way home.
As a result of the indicent (sic), Plaintiff has suffered severe emotional and psychological distress, guilt, humiliation, and embarrassment, all of which have greatly impacted her professional and personal life.
The filing from the lawyer firm of Johnson & Johnson comes mere hours after Lythgoe filed a response to Abdul’s December 29 complaint calling his former SYTYCD colleague a “well-documented fabulist” and just stopping short of labelling her crazy.
Abdul is also represented by Johnson & Johnson, as is another Jane Doe who sued Lythgoe in late February over an alleged 2016 assault in a chauffeured car. In this case, this Jane Doe is seeking unspecified damages and “such other relief as the Court deems proper.”
“We far too often hear the stories of women who have been punished by superiors for rebuking unwanted sexual advances, attorney Melissa Eubanks said Tuesday of the new filing. 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,” the Senior Counsel with Johnson & Johnson added. “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.”
Reps for Lythgoe had no comment on this latest accusation when contacted by Deadline.
Howeve being that the producer has issued a statement of denial on the past allegations, it is reasonable to expect one coming eventually. If and when there is such a response, this post will be updated.
In January, when he as facing two sexual assaults suits, Lythgoe exited SYTYCD.
“I have informed the producers of So You Think You Can Dance of my decision to step back from participating in this year’s series,” the series co-creator, top judge and EP said. “I did so with a heavy heart but entirely voluntarily because this great program has always been about dance and dancers, and that’s where its focus needs to remain. In the meantime, I am dedicating myself to clearing my name and restoring my reputation.”
