NEW YORK - Former "American Idol" producer Nigel Lythgoe has fired back at criticism by Paula Abdul that the show put her in peril by allowing an alleged stalker to audition.
Lythgoe says in an interview posted on People magazine's website: "You do not take somebody in that room that you believe is a danger to herself or a danger to Paula. That would not enter our heads."
Abdul, one of the "Idol" judges, claimed during an interview with Barbara Walters on her Sirius XM radio show that producers knew Paula Goodspeed had stalked her, and allowed her to audition anyway.
Goodspeed was found dead of an apparent suicide in a car near Abdul's Los Angeles home last month.
Lythgoe says he remembers Goodspeed as "a lovely girl" and "a great fan of Paula."
