Nigel Lythgoe joked about being Paula Abdul’s ‘next abuser’ before lawsuit

Nigel Lythgoe once made a crass joke about Paula Abdul before she filed a lawsuit against him for sexual assault.

In an interview with Daily Beast in 2015, the former American Idol executive producer said he wanted to be the “next person to abuse” Abdul ahead of the premiere of the 12th season of So You Think You Can Dance, which Lythgoe also executive produced.

Read More: Paula Abdul sues American Idol producer Nigel Lythgoe over sexual assault

The comment referred to Abdul and Simon Cowell’s on-air relationship as they bickered constantly as judges on the singing competition.

“We’ve known each other for so long now,” Lythgoe said at the time. “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 interrupted and groaned, “Oh, please,” continuing what the writer described as “playful banter.”

“So abused and mistreated,” Lythgoe continued. “I wanted to be the next person to abuse her.”

He hired Abdul to co-host the competitive dance show in 2015 and 2016.

Read More: Nigel Lythgoe slams Paula Abdul’s sexual assault claims as ‘false’

The singer filed a lawsuit on Friday against Lythgoe and the show’s production companies, alleging that the producer sexually assaulted her during one of the early seasons of American Idol and years later when she was working as a judge on So You Think You Can Dance.

Lythgoe has since denied the claims.