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"Former American Idol executive producer Nigel Lythgoe has responded to Paula Abdul&amp;apos;s claims that the show&amp;apos;s producers put her in an uncomfortable position by allowing her stalker to audition because of the encounter&amp;apos;s &amp;quot;entertainment value.&amp;quot; &amp;quot;[Paula Goodspeed] had been through an audition process with the producers, an audition process with the executive producers, and we were wheeling her in as a huge fan of Paula Abdul,&amp;quot; Lythgoe said. &amp;quot;This is what we knew: She was a great fan, she was a lovely girl. And a great fan of Paula.&amp;quot;\r\nGoodspeed later committed suicide in front of Abdul&amp;apos;s home following a string of threatening letters addressed to Abdul. As for whether Abdul asked producers not to let Goodspeed audition, &amp;quot;This is three years ago. I honestly say I can&amp;apos;t remember the conversation. If Paula said, that&amp;apos;s what she said, I believe her,&amp;quot; Lythgoe said. &amp;quot;We&amp;apos;ve seen over 700,000 contestants. And one has made a terrible, terrible mistake. If you&amp;apos;re an odds man, they are great odds,&amp;quot; he added. Lythgoe left American Idol this past summer to concentrate on So You Think You Can Dance? and Superstars of Dance.\r\nRelated Stories: &amp;#x2022; Paula Abdul Criticizes &amp;quot;American Idol&amp;quot; Producers For Allowing Stalker To Audition &amp;#x2022; Paula Abdul Fan Found Dead Outside &amp;quot;American Idol&amp;quot; Judge&amp;apos;s House &amp;#x2022; Cowell, Abdul Send Condolences to Jennifer Hudson"^^<http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#string>
<http://www.rollingstone.com/music/news/former-american-idol-producer-responds-to-abduls-stalker-claims-20081212>