TV producer Nigel Lythgoe stated Friday that he’s stepping apart as a choose on “So You Think You Can Dance” after lawsuits accusing him of sexual assault, together with one from Paula Abdul.
Lythgoe can also be co-creator and government producer of the Fox dance competitors collection, whose 18th season is ready to begin in March.
“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,” Lythgoe stated in a press release. “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.”
The 74-year-old English-born Lythgoe has been a outstanding TV producer for many years in each the U.Ok. and the U.S., engaged on actuality competitors exhibits together with “American Idol.”
The singer and dancer Abdul alleged in a lawsuit filed Dec. 30 that Lythgoe twice assaulted her — first within the early 2000s when she was an “American Idol” choose and once more a couple of decade later when she was a choose on “So You Think You Can Dance,” which she left after two seasons.
Lythgoe known as the allegations an “appalling smear” that he intends to struggle.
The Related Press doesn’t typically establish individuals who say they’re the victims of sexual assault until they arrive ahead publicly, as Abdul has completed.
