It alleged that she was discriminated against in terms of pay and that “she was the target of persistent taunts, threats, insults and harassment from numerous executives, agents, and employees of the show”.
The most serious allegations are against 74-year-old Lithgow.
The lawsuit says that at the beginning of Idol, Abdul and Lithgow were on the road to audition for the show when he attacked her in a hotel elevator, groped her and “put his tongue down her throat.”
The second attack occurred when Abdul agreed to appear as a judge on “So You Think You Can Dance” in 2015, and went to dinner at Lithgow’s home, where he allegedly “attempted to kiss her, While it was announced that the two would make an excellent ”power couple.”
“For years, Abdul remained silent about the sexual assaults and harassment she suffered from Lithgow out of fear of speaking out against one of the television competition show’s most famous producers, which could have easily ruined her career as a television personality. She was and is being “ostracized and blackballed by an industry that has a pattern of protecting powerful men and silencing survivors of sexual assault and harassment,” the complaint says.
It added that her contracts also barred her from discussing any “derogatory” things.