According to a new lawsuit filed in Los Angeles on Friday, Paula Abdul has claimed that in the early 2000s, the former producer of “American Idol,” Nigel Lythgoe, assaulted her sexually. She was a judge for the show at that time. After leaving the show, she was again assaulted by the producer after becoming a judge on another show, “So You Think You Can Dance”, produced by him.

Abdul has to come forward as the alleged victims, who have been subjected to sexual assault, have to face the public in order for the Associated Press to identify them.

On the other hand, Lythgoe has denied the accusation, saying that it was shocking for him to be accused by a dear and platonic friend like Abdul. Hinting at Abdul’s past behavior being erratic, Lythgoe said that he could not understand Abdul’s filing of an untrue lawsuit, but he will fight the case with everything he owns to clear his name.

On Saturday, Paula Abdul’s lawyer, Douglas Johnson, appreciated her decision to go public with her case. He said that the decision was undoubtedly difficult, but Ms. Abdul wants to see justice served to her and many other victims of sexual assaults.

According to the lawsuit, the reason for Abdul’s silence was the fear of vengeance by the TV’s most popular producers of competition shows like “American Idol,” “So You Think You Can Dance,” and “Pop Idol” etc. Abdul served for 16 years as a judge on SYTYCD and has starred in the British show “Pop Idol” on the recreation in the States.

The lawsuit says that the first sexual assault happened around 2002 during the auditioning of “American Idol.” A day after the filming, Lythgoe groped Abdul in an elevator and tried to kiss her forcefully, to which she reacted by pushing him away as soon as the elevator doors opened. She wanted to inform her representatives of the assault but decided to stay silent due to the fear of being fired from “American Idol.”

According to the lawsuit, again in 2015, when Abdul was a judge on “So You Think You Can Dance” along with Lythgoe, the latter assaulted her and tried to kiss her again at a dinner. Abdul pushed him again and left. She worked with Lythgoe for only two seasons on the show and left it too.

In the lawsuit, Abdul also accused Lythgoe of ridiculing her for the assaults by saying that the running out of statute of limitation was worth celebrating. The lawsuit was submitted by Abdul before 31st December. The date was a deadline of a law in California that allowed for a 1-year period for sexual abuse-claiming victims to file their cases after running out of the statute of limitations.

In New York, more than 3,700 cases were filed under the same ruling that ended last month.