JoJo Siwa is about to exchange Nigel Lythgoe as a decide on So You Assume You Can Dance after Lythgoe was accused of sexual assault.
Fox issued a press launch on Friday, January 26, asserting Siwa, 20, would return for season 18 of the dance competitors collection, which premieres on Monday, March 4, after beforehand showing as a decide on season 17. Allison Holker and Maksim Chmerkovskiy will full the panel. Cat Deeley, who has hosted the present since 2006, will return as emcee.
The addition of Siwa to the season 18 lineup comes shortly after Lythgoe, 74, exited the collection within the wake of a number of sexual assault lawsuits. Us Weekly confirmed in December 2023 that Lythgoe, who served as a decide and government producer on SYTYCD since its premiere in 2005, was being sued by Paula Abdul.
In courtroom paperwork obtained by Rolling Stone, Abdul, 61, claimed that Lythgoe assaulted her a number of occasions through the years whereas the pair labored collectively on American Idol and SYTYCD.
Whereas Hollywood might look like all glitz and glam on the floor, the trade has seen its justifiable share of scandals by means of the years. The New York Instances and the New Yorker first printed investigative items in 2017 that accused disgruntled film producer Harvey Weinstein of many years of sexual assault and harassment. Quickly after, Weinstein stood trial and was […]
Abdul’s go well with alleges that Lythgoe “verbally insulted and belittled” her previous to taking her American Idol gig and that he continued to bully her throughout her time on the singing competitors collection. It additionally claims that he sexually assaulted her in a resort elevator whereas touring for Idol auditions. (She didn’t specify when the alleged incident happened.)
“Abdul tried to push Lythgoe away from her. When the doorways to the elevator for her door opened, Abdul ran out of the elevator and to her resort room,” the courtroom paperwork learn. “Abdul shortly known as one in all her representatives in tears to tell them of the assault.”
Following her time on Idol, Abdul briefly joined the judging panel of So You Assume You Can Dance. Elsewhere within the lawsuit, it claims that she witnessed Lythgoe sexually assault one in all her assistants with out consent.
Lythgoe has denied the allegations. “To say that I’m shocked and saddened by the allegations made in opposition to me by Paula Abdul is a wild understatement,” he mentioned in an announcement to Us final month. “For greater than 20 years, Paula and I’ve interacted as pricey — and completely platonic — associates and colleagues. Yesterday, nevertheless, out of the blue, I realized of those claims within the press and I wish to be clear: not solely are they false, they’re deeply offensive to me and to the whole lot I stand for.”
When So You Assume You Can Dance debuted on FOX in 2005, a panel of dance consultants have been tapped to find the perfect up-and-coming performers. Nigel Lythgoe, who cocreated the competitors collection alongside Simon Fuller, served as one of many longtime judges because the season 1 premiere. Nevertheless, after cueing the audition music and marveling […]
He continued, “Whereas Paula’s historical past of erratic habits is well-known, I can’t fake to know precisely why she would file a lawsuit that she should know is unfaithful. However I can promise that I’ll battle this appalling smear with the whole lot I’ve.”
Earlier this month, a second lawsuit was filed in opposition to Lythgoe by two contestants on the 2003 competitors collection All American Lady. The 2 ladies accused him of forcibly making an attempt to kiss them after a wrap occasion in 2003.
