Nigel Lythgoe has stepped down as a judge of “So You Think You Can Dance,” the show said on Friday, after he was sued by Paula Abdul and accused of sexual assault.

Mr. Lythgoe, who has denied sexually assaulting Ms. Abdul, said in a statement that he was stepping down from the show that he had helped create “with a heavy heart but entirely voluntarily because this great program has always been about dance and dancers, and that’s where its focus needs to remain.”

“In the meantime, I am dedicating myself to clearing my name and restoring my reputation,” he said in the statement.

Variety was first to report Mr. Lythgoe’s exit.

In the lawsuit, which was filed last month, Ms. Abdul accused Mr. Lythgoe of shoving her against the wall of a hotel elevator, grabbing her genitals and breasts and shoving his tongue down her throat while she was a judge on “American Idol.” Mr. Lythgoe, who had been a producer for the show at the time, called the allegations “false” and “deeply offensive to me and to everything I stand for.”