Entertainment
Nigel Lythgoe accused of sexual assault by two additional women after Paula Abdul's lawsuit
Two additional women have come forward accusing Nigel Lythgoe of sexual assault, days after Paula Abdul sued the “So You Think You Can Dance” producer.
The latest allegations are part of a lawsuit filed Tuesday in Los Angeles County Superior Court by two women — identified as former contestants Jane Doe K.G. and Jane Doe K.N. of the short-lived series “AAG,” which is believed to be a reference to Lythgoe’s “All American Girl.”
The complaint, obtained Wednesday by The Times, was filed against John Roe N.L., a pseudonym for Lythgoe, The Times has confirmed. Other parties in the lawsuit include Lythgoe’s production company, an unnamed New York corporation and 100 other unnamed individuals, and it alleges negligence, sexual assault/battery, sexual harassment, gender violence and intentional infliction of emotional distress.
The women accuse Lythgoe of making unwanted sexual advances and forcibly kissing them inside his Los Angeles home during filming of the competition game show in 2003. The plaintiffs also allege that Lythgoe visited the all-female contestants’ dressing room and “openly swatted and groped” K.G., K.N. and other contestants’ buttocks and that employees, contractors and representatives of the show’s production saw Lythgoe’s alleged behavior and failed to intervene or prevent further possible abuse. The complaint said the behavior “was openly accepted.”
Representatives for Lythgoe did not immediately respond Wednesday to The Times’ requests for comment.
Lythgoe is facing a separate lawsuit filed by Abdul, who alleges that the producer sexually assaulted her twice while working together on his shows “American Idol” and “So You Think You Can Dance.” The singer and dancer joined a growing list of accusers who have filed lawsuits under California’s Sexual Abuse and Cover Up Accountability Act, which allows survivors of sexual assault to sue beyond the usual statute of limitations.
The producer denied Abdul’s allegations, calling them “false” and “deeply offensive to me and to everything I stand for.” He called his relationship with Abdul “entirely platonic,” saying she was a friend and colleague, and he vowed to “fight this appalling smear with everything I have.”
Other recent high-profile lawsuits filed under the state law have levied sexual assault allegations against Jermaine Jackson and former Recording Academy chief Mike Greene. Sean “Diddy” Combs, Antonio “L.A.” Reid and Aerosmith’s Steven Tyler have been sued under a similar New York law.
Some questions have risen around whether the latest lawsuit filed by the “AAG” contestants will hold up in court. Their suit was filed Jan. 2, several days after the Dec. 31 deadline for one of the filing windows under the act, which was enacted in 2023 and runs through 2026, with filing windows depending on when incidents are alleged to have taken place. . Also, the law requires a survivor to be 18 years or older at the time of the alleged incident.
The new complaint lists Jane Doe K.G.’s birth year as 1997. A person close to the matter who was not authorized to discuss it publicly confirmed to The Times that her correct birth year is 1979, which would make her around 24 at the time of the alleged incident. The person also said that since the filing deadline fell on a holiday weekend, the complaint was filed the next day that courts were open.
According to the complaint, when filming on “AAG” ended in May 2003, contestants and the show’s crew and executives attended a wrap party. K.G., a resident of Comal County, Texas, and her fellow contestant, K.N., a resident of Travis County, Texas, were at the party, along with N.L..
After the party, as the cast and crew began to head to the show’s studio, Lythgoe allegedly insisted that K.N. ride back with him after “taking an unusual interest” in her, and K.G. joined them in the car “to ensure her colleague was not left alone.” Other cast and crew saw the pair joining Lythgoe in his personal car, the suit said.
Rather than driving back to the studio, according to the complaint, N.L. drove the two women to his L.A. home, where he repeatedly made unwanted sexual advances. During one instance, he allegedly lifted his sweater over K.G.’s head, wrapped her in his sweater and attempted to kiss her and pushed her body against his. She rejected the advance and tried to free herself. That same night, he allegedly pinned K.N. against a grand piano and pressed his body against hers, forcing his mouth and tongue onto her “despite her numerous statements telling him not to and attempts to pull her face away from his.”
“When Plaintiff K.G. saw this and protested, Defendant N.L. finally surrendered,” the lawsuit said. The complaint seeks damages to be determined at a trial.
Meanwhile, pressure is beginning to mount for companies doing business with Lythgoe, specifically Fox, which airs his show “So You Think You Can Dance.” The long-running dance competition was renewed for its 18th season in December, with Lythgoe returning as an executive producer and judge. At least one petition — started by antisexism advocacy group UltraViolet — has sprung up amid news of the second lawsuit, calling on Fox to drop Lythgoe. The petition, launched Wednesday, is addressed to Allison Wallach, Fox Entertainment’s president of unscripted programming.
“We cannot stay silent while Fox profits from and promotes a known abuser,” the petition said.
Representatives for Fox Entertainment did not immediately respond to The Times’ requests for comment.
Movie Reviews
Jeremy Schuetze’s ‘ANACORETA’ (2022) – Movie Review – PopHorror
PopHorror had the chance to check out Anacoreta (2022) ahead of its streaming release! Does this meta-horror flick provide interesting story telling or is it a confusing mess.
Let’s have a look…
Synopsis
A group of friends heads to a secluded woodland cabin for a weekend getaway, planning to film an experimental horror movie. As the shoot progresses, the project begins to fall apart—until a real and terrifying presence emerges from the darkness.
Anacoreta is directed by Jeremy Schuetze. It was written by Jeremy Schuetze and Matt Visser. The film stars Antonia Thomas (Bagman 2024), Jesse Stanley (Raf 2019), Jeremy Schuetze (Jennifer’s Body 2009), and Matt Visser (A Lot Like Christmas 2021)
My Thoughts
Antonia Thomas delivered an outstanding performance as the female lead in Anacoreta. It was remarkable to watch her convey such a wide range of emotions with authenticity and depth. I was continually impressed by her ability to switch seamlessly between different dialects. I absolutely loved her delivery of the dialogue of telling The Scorpion and the Frog fable.
Anacoreta employs a distinctive, meta-horror style of storytelling. The narrative follows a group of friends creating a “scripted reality” horror film, and as the plot unfolds, the boundary between their staged production and their actual lives becomes increasingly blurred. This was interesting, but at the same time frustrating as a viewer.

Check out Anacoreta on Prime Video and let us know your thoughts!
Entertainment
Todd Meadows, ‘Deadliest Catch’ deckhand, dies at 25
Todd Meadows, a crewmember on one of the fishing vessels featured on the long-running reality series “Deadliest Catch,” has died. He was 25.
Rick Shelford, the captain of the Aleutian Lady, announced in a Monday post on Facebook and Instagram that Meadows died Feb. 25. He called it “the most tragic day in the history of the Aleutian Lady on the Bering Sea.”
“We lost our brother,” Shelford wrote in his lengthy tribute. “Todd was the newest member of our crew, he quickly became family. His love for fishing and his strong work ethic earned everyone’s respect right away. His smile was contagious, and the sound of his laughter coming up the wheelhouse stairs or over the deck hailer is something we will carry with us always.
“He worked hard, loved deeply, and brought joy to those around him,” he added. “Todd will forever be part of this boat, this crew, and this brotherhood. Though we lost him far too soon, his legacy will live on through his children and in every memory we carry of him.”
A fundraiser set up in Meadows’ name described the deckhand from Montesano, Wash., as a father to “three amazing little boys” who died “while doing what he loved — crabbing out on Alaskan waters.”
According to the Associated Press, Meadows died after he was reported to have fallen overboard around 170 miles north of Dutch Harbor, Alaska.
“He was recovered unresponsive by the crew approximately ten minutes later,” Chief Petty Officer Travis Magee, a spokesperson with the Coast Guard’s Arctic District, told the AP. The Coast Guard is investigating the incident.
Meadows was a first-year cast member of “Deadliest Catch,” the Discovery Channel reality series that follows crab fishermen navigating the perilous winds and waves of the Bering Sea during the Alaskan king crab and snow crab fishing seasons. The show debuted in 2005. No episodes from Meadows’ season has aired.
Deadline reported that the show was in production on its 22nd season when the incident occurred, with the Shelford-led Aleutian Lady being the last of the vessels still out at sea at the time. Production has subsequently concluded, per the outlet.
“We are deeply saddened by the tragic passing of Todd Meadows,” a Discovery Channel spokesperson said in a statement that has been widely circulated. “This is a devastating loss, and our hearts are with his loved ones, his crewmates, and the entire fishing community during this incredibly difficult time.”
Meadows is the latest among “Deadliest Catch” cast members who have died. Previous deaths include Phil Harris, a captain of one of the ships featured on the show, who died after suffering a stroke while filming the show’s sixth season in 2010. Todd Kochutin, a crew member of the Patricia Lee, died in 2021 from injuries he sustained while aboard the fishing vessel, according to an obituary. Other cast members have died from substance abuse or natural causes.
Movie Reviews
‘Hoppers’ review: Pixar’s best original movie in years
“So it’s like Avatar?” one character quips in Disney and Pixar’s “Hoppers,” bluntly translating the film’s high-concept premise for the sugar-fueled kids in the audience. And yes, the comparison is apt. The story follows a nature-obsessed teenage girl who manages to quite literally “hop” her consciousness into the body of a robotic beaver in order to spark an animal rebellion against a greedy mayor determined to bulldoze their forest for a freeway.
It’s a clever hook. The kind of big, elastic idea Pixar used to make look effortless. “Hoppers” does not reach the rarified air of “Up,” “Wall-E,” or “Inside Out,” but after a stretch of uneven originals like “Turning Red” and “Luca,” and outright misfires such as “Elemental” and “Elio,” this feels like a genuine course correction. The environmental messaging is clear without being preachy, the animals are irresistibly anthropomorphized, and the studio’s once-signature emotional sincerity is back in sturdy form.
Pixar can afford to gamble on originals when it has a guaranteed cash cow like this summer’s “Toy Story 5” waiting in the wings, but “Hoppers” earns its place in the catalogue. Director Daniel Chong crafts a warm, heartfelt film that occasionally strains under the weight of its own ambition, yet remains grounded by character and theme. Its meditation on conservation and animal displacement feels timely in a way that never tips into after-school-special territory.
We meet Mabel, voiced with bright conviction by Piper Curda, as a child liberating her classroom pets and returning them to the wild. Her moral compass is shaped by her grandmother, voiced by Karen Huie, who imparts wisdom about nature’s sanctity. True to both Pixar tradition and the broader Disney playbook, this beacon of guidance does not survive past the opening act. Loss, after all, is Pixar’s favorite inciting incident.
Years later, Mabel is still fighting the good fight, squaring off against the smarmy Mayor Jerry, voiced with slick menace by Jon Hamm. He plans to flatten the glade where Mabel and her grandmother once found solace. Mabel’s resistance feels noble but futile. The animals have already mysteriously vanished, the machinery is coming, and her last-ditch plan involves luring a beaver back to the abandoned forest in hopes of jumpstarting the ecosystem.
That’s when the film gleefully pivots into mad-scientist territory. At Beaverton University, Mabel discovers her professor, voiced by Kathy Najimy, has developed a device that can project human consciousness into synthetic animals. The process, dubbed “hopping,” allows Mabel to inhabit a robotic beaver and infiltrate the forest from within. It’s an inspired escalation that keeps the film buoyant even when the plotting grows predictable.
Her new posse includes King George, a lovably beaver voiced by Bobby Moynihan with distinct Bing Bong energy; a sharp-tongued bear voiced by Melissa Villaseñor; a regal bird king voiced by the late Isiah Whitlock Jr.; and a fish queen voiced by Ego Nwodim. As is often the case with Pixar, even in its lesser efforts, the world-building is meticulous. The animal hierarchy, complete with titles like “paw of the king,” is layered with jokes that play for kids while slyly winking at adults.
The plot ultimately follows a familiar template. Scrappy underdog rallies community. Corporate villain twirls metaphorical mustache. Emotional third-act sacrifice looms. At times, you can feel the machinery working a little too cleanly. Pixar, and Disney at large, has grown increasingly reliant on sequels and established IP, and “Hoppers” does not radically reinvent the wheel. In an animated landscape where films like “K-Pop: Demon Hunters,” “Across the Spider-Verse,” and “Goat” are pushing stylistic and narrative boundaries, being safe and sturdy may not always be enough.
And yet, there is something refreshing about a Pixar original that remembers how to tug at the heart without squeezing it dry. “Hoppers” is playful, peppered with cheeky needle drops, and builds to a sweet emotional catharsis that may or may not have left this critic a little misty-eyed. It feels earnest and engaged.
“Hoppers” may not be top-tier Pixar. But it is a welcome return to form, a reminder that the studio still knows how to marry big ideas with a bigger heart.
HOPPERS opens in theaters Friday, March 6th.
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