Nigel Lythgoe is combating again in opposition to Paula Abdul‘s lawsuit, claiming his treasure trove of her personal emails, plus her “erratic conduct” and alleged drug use, discredit her character and show he didn’t sexually assault her.
In his response obtained by RadarOnline.com, Lythgoe accused his former colleague on American Idol and So You Assume You Can Dance of being a “well-documented fabulist, with a protracted historical past of telling wild tales which might be untethered from actuality and are primarily designed to draw consideration and make Abdul seem like the sufferer of dreadful misfortune.”
The tv mogul claimed he “championed” her being employed on Idol and SYTYCD regardless of “being informed that Abdul is ‘an absolute no’ as a result of she ‘is nuts’ and ‘loopy,’ by different producers and business.”
Lythgoe alleged that in Season One among Idol auditions in Atlanta, “Abdul’s conduct was so erratic and unpredictable that she was requested whether or not it was good for her well being to proceed on with the present.” He claimed, “There have been ongoing discussions about Abdul’s substance abuse points and conduct amongst executives” throughout this time.
“At her absolute best, Abdul’s conduct on American Idol has been described as ‘bizarre,’ ‘wacky,’ ‘weird,’ and ‘unpredictable.’ At her worst, Abdul was slurring her speech, unintelligible, drooling and passing out in audition rooms, having to be carried out on two separate events,” his response filed in Los Angeles Superior Court docket on Tuesday learn.
“Abdul has repeatedly denied being hooked on medicine,” the docs said. “Nonetheless, in June, 2009, Abdul revealed to Girls House Journal that she had abused heavy-duty ache killers, a behavior that left her near dying and in a rehabilitation facility. Abdul has additionally revealed that she wore a patch that delivered a dose of treatment 80 instances extra highly effective than morphine, took a nerve treatment to alleviate her signs and sometimes used muscle relaxants.”
Lythgoe mentioned Abdul typically “blamed modifying,” which she “alleged was carried out to make her look worse than she was.” He claimed she had a historical past of blaming producers, citing her “short-lived present Hey Paula,” during which she allegedly claimed the staff was “plotting, scheming, and modifying” when her weird conduct was caught on digital camera.
He mentioned her “credibility has been known as into query on a critical challenge,” during which he cited her alleged 1992 airplane crash.
“There aren’t any information in anyway of the supposed airplane crash. In a single interview Abdul defined that she was in a position to maintain the story underneath wraps with NDAs and since ‘there was no web on the time.’ In one other interview, she defined that on the time of the crash, there have been ‘no computer systems,'” he charged.
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Lythgoe included pages of emails, messages, and tweets to him from Paula in the course of the time of the alleged abuse. He mentioned the personal correspondence reveals “how Abdul actually felt about Lythgoe throughout and after the time she now alleges abuse occurred.”
A September 12, 2014 e-mail learn partially, “Hello sweetheart — thanks for this beautiful ‘present.’ Please forgive me for not calling yesterday. Without end grateful to have you ever in my life! Love, love LOVE YOU! XO P.”
One other June 20, 2014 learn, “Thanks for the attractive flowers — they had been beautiful! However, I’ve to say the kicker was the birthday card final night time. I’m nonetheless howling! I really respect our friendship and am trying ahead to launching our mission.”
Lythgoe is demanding Abdul’s lawsuit be dismissed — and he desires her on the hook for his legal professional charges.
RadarOnline.com has reached out to Abdul’s staff for remark.
As this outlet reported, Abdul sued Lythgoe in December 2023, accusing him of sexual assault on two separate events whereas filming Idol and SYTYCD. He denied the claims, calling them “false” and “deeply offensive” whereas vowing to battle her accusations.