Singer Paula Abdul, awarded “Grammy” and star of American television, has filed a sexual assault complaint against the producer of the television competition show “American Idol” in a California court, according to AFP.

Paula Abdul, whose 1988 album Forever Your Girl was the most successful debut album in history, has accused Nigel Lithgow, producer of American Idol, of two counts of sexual assault, according to a complaint filed Friday.

The English producer, who is also a member of the jury of the show-dance competition “So You Think You Can Dance”, according to the media, rejected the accusations.

In her complaint, the 61-year-old singer said she was harassed by Nigel Lithgow and other managers of “American Idol,” the show on which she was a judge from 2002-2009.

According to the complaint, the singer said she was the victim of pay discrimination, adding that she was “the target of ridicule, intimidation, humiliation and harassment by several managers, agents and employees” of the show.

The most serious charges have been brought against 74-year-old Nigel Lithgow.

In the early days of American Idol, Paula Abdul and a producer were traveling together to auditions, and at one point the producer attacked her in a hotel elevator, groped her and forcefully kissed her.

The second attack occurred in 2015, when Paula Abdul agreed to be part of the So You Think You Can Dance jury. The actress went to dinner at the house of Nigel Lithgow, who tried to kiss her and said that together they would make a “successful couple”.

“For years, Abdul remained silent about Lithgow’s sexual assault and harassment, fearing that a conviction by one of the most famous producers of competition television would destroy his television career, ostracize her and affect her career in an industry that traditionally protects influential men and silences survivors of sexual violence and harassment,” the complaint also states.

Lythgoe said he was “shocked and upset” and denied the allegations, according to NPR radio.

Paula Abdul’s complaint is the latest in a series of high-profile lawsuits filed before a California law temporarily tolling the statute of limitations for sexual assault cases expired Sunday. (Agerpress)