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So You Think You Can Dance co-creator and former judge Nigel Lythgoe has been charged with sexual assault for the fourth time in less than three months.
“Lythgoe’s sexual assault and battery were so traumatizing that the plaintiff no longer feels like the confident, capable and independent woman she was before the incident,” Jane Doe says of the alleged 2018 incident in a filing today in LA Superior Court filed file.
Read Jane Does' sexual assault lawsuit against Nigel Lythgoe here
Similar to an alleged 2015 assault that Paula Abdul laid out in her own lawsuit late last year, and a civil lawsuit in early January alleging sexual assault/battery, sexual harassment and negligence by Jane Doe KG and Jane Doe KN, this latest lawsuit occurred by Jane Doe at Lythgoe's residence in LA. In this case, a meeting that seemingly quickly became toxic:
After a few minutes of professional discussion, Lythgoe suddenly pushed the plaintiff against the outside wall of the property by inserting his knee between her legs and then began licking the plaintiff's neck, touching her genitals and groping her all over her body. The plaintiff tried to push Lythgoe away from her, but he pushed her against the wall so she could not move. Lythgoe continued to grope and attempted to kiss the plaintiff.
After the plaintiff was able to free herself from Lythgoe, she immediately left the property and drove away. However, the plaintiff was so shaken by the attack that she had to stop her car just a block from Lythgoe's home. The plaintiff then sat in her car shaking and crying for approximately thirty minutes before she was able to drive the rest of the way home.
As a result of the charges, the plaintiff suffered severe emotional and psychological distress, guilt, humiliation and embarrassment, all of which had a significant impact on her professional and personal life.
The lawsuit from law firm Johnson & Johnson comes just hours after Lythgoe filed a response to Abdul's Dec. 29 complaint, in which he called his former SYTYCD colleague a “well-documented fabulist” and stopped short of labeling her crazy .
Abdul is also represented by Johnson & Johnson, as is another Jane Doe who sued Lythgoe in late February over an alleged assault in a chauffeured car in 2016. In this case, this Jane Doe is seeking unspecified damages and “other relief as the court deems appropriate.”
“We hear far too often 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 of professional and cordial relationship, Mr. Lythgoe allegedly forced himself on our client during an actual business meeting and then ended the relationship when she did not relent,” Johnson & Johnson's senior counsel added. “We hope stories like this become a thing of the past, and we remain proud to support the women who are finally standing up and saying, ‘Enough is enough.”
Representatives for Lythgoe did not comment on this latest allegation when contacted by Deadline.
However, since the producer has issued a statement denying the previous allegations, it's safe to assume that one will come at some point. If there is such an answer, this post will be updated.
In January, facing two sexual assault lawsuits, Lythgoe left SYTYCD.
“I have informed the producers of So You Think You Can Dance of my decision to withdraw from this year's series,” said the series co-creator, top judge and EP. “I did this with a heavy heart, but completely voluntarily, because this great program has always been about dance and dancers, and the focus must remain there. In the meantime, I am committed to clearing my name and restoring my reputation.”