JoJo Siwa replaces Nigel Lythgoe in 'So You Think You Can Dance'
JoJo Siwa is set to replace Nigel Lythgoe as a judge So you think you can dance after Lythgoe was accused of sexual assault.
Fox issued a press release on Friday, January 26, announcing that Siwa, 20, would return for season 18 of the dance competition series, premiering on Monday, March 4, after previously appearing as a judge on season 17. Allison Holker And Maksim Chmerkovskiy completes the panel. Cat Deeleywho has hosted the show since 2006, returns as presenter.
The addition of Siwa to the season 18 lineup comes shortly after Lythgoe, 74, left the series in the wake of multiple sexual assault lawsuits. We weekly confirmed in December 2023 that Lythgoe, who served as judge and executive producer, was stepping down SYTYCD has been sued by since its premiere in 2005 Paula Abdul.
In court documents obtained by Rolling stoneAbdul, 61, claimed Lythgoe assaulted her several times over the years while the pair worked together American Idol And SYTYCD.
While Hollywood may seem all glitz and glamor at first glance, the industry has seen its fair share of scandals over the years. The New York Times and the New Yorker first published investigative pieces in 2017 accusing disgruntled film producer Harvey Weinstein of decades of sexual assault and harassment. Shortly afterwards, Weinstein stood trial and did so […]
Abdul's lawsuit claims Lythgoe “verbally insulted and belittled” her before taking her American Idol performance and that he continued to bully her during her time on the singing competition series. It is also alleged that he sexually assaulted her in a hotel elevator while he was traveling Idol auditions. (She did not specify when the alleged incident took place.)
'Abdul tried to push Lythgoe away from her. When the elevator doors opened in front of her, Abdul ran out of the elevator and to her hotel room,” according to court documents. “Abdul quickly called one of her representatives in tears to inform them of the attack.”
After her time IdolAbdul briefly joined the jury of So you think you can dance. Elsewhere in the lawsuit, it is alleged that she witnessed Lythgoe sexually assaulting one of her assistants without consent.
Lythgoe has denied the allegations. “To say that I am shocked and saddened by the allegations made against me by Paula Abdul is a wild understatement,” he said in a statement to Us last month. “For more than twenty years, Paula and I have worked together as dear – and completely platonic – friends and colleagues. However, yesterday, out of the blue, I heard about these claims in the press and I want to be clear: not only are they false, they are deeply offensive to me and everything I stand for.”
When So You Think You Can Dance debuted on FOX in 2005, a panel of dance experts was brought in to discover the best emerging artists. Nigel Lythgoe, who co-created the competition series with Simon Fuller, has been one of the longtime judges since the season 1 premiere. However, after following the audition music and wonder […]
He continued, “While Paula's history of erratic behavior is well known, I cannot pretend to understand exactly why she would file a lawsuit that she must know is not true. But I can promise that I will fight this terrible slander with everything I have.”
Earlier this month, a second lawsuit was filed against Lythgoe by two participants in the 2003 competition series All American girl. The two women accused him of forcibly trying to kiss them after a wrap party in 2003.