Bohemian Rhapsody director accused of sexually abusing boys

Bryan Singer, the controversial director of the Oscar nominated film Bohemian Rhapsody, is again being accused of sexually abusing teenage boys.

The openly gay Hollywood filmmaker, who is also known for his X-Men films, The Usual Suspects and Superman Returns, has been the subject of allegations concerning young boys for years but has never been found guilty of any crime.

After a 12 month investigation, The Atlantic has now published detailed allegations by four men who say that Singer molested them when they were underage.

One of the men, Victor Valdovinos, claims that he was masturbated by the director at the age of 13 when he worked as an extra on his film Apt Pupil. Three others, known only as Eric, Andy and Ben, say that he had sex with them when they were between the ages of 15 and 18.

This follows a lawsuit filed by Cesar Sanchez-Guzman in December 2017, alleging that Singer raped him at the age of 17 on a yacht in 2003. There was another lawsuit in 2014 by Michael Egan, who made similar claims against Singer, but later dropped the legal action.

Singer was fired in December 2017 from Bohemian Rhapsody, the movie about iconic rock band Queen and singer Freddie Mercury, because of his “unexpected unavailability”. There were claims he’d had a number of on-set clashes with star Rami Malek. There were also tabloid reports that Singer was often late or failed to arrive on set after alleged late night “benders”.

Singer insisted that he was let go because he requested time off to deal with “pressing health matters concerning one of my parents”. Dexter Fletcher was hired to complete filming and post-production on Bohemian Rhapsody but Singer retained full credit as director thanks to union rules.

Through his lawyer, Singer has categorically denied all the accusations including that’s had sex with or is sexually interested in underage men.

In an Instagram post in October, the director issued a statement in response to journalists from Esquire magazine investigating claims against him. “They have contacted my friends, colleagues and people I don’t even know,” he said. “In today’s climate where people’s careers are being harmed by mere accusations, what Esquire is attempting to do is a reckless disregard for the truth, making assumptions that are fictional and irresponsible.”

Bohemian Rhapsody has been nominated for five Oscars this year, including Best Picture, Best Actor (Rami Malek), Best Sound Mixing, Best Film Editing and Best Sound Editing.

Update. Singer has issued a new statement reacting to The Atlantic story: “The last time I posted about this subject, Esquire magazine was preparing to publish an article written by a homophobic journalist who has a bizarre obsession with me dating back to 1997. After careful fact-checking and, in consideration of the lack of credible sources, Esquire chose not to publish this piece of vendetta journalism. That didn’t stop this writer from selling it to The Atlantic. It’s sad that The Atlantic would stoop to this low standard of journalistic integrity. Again, I am forced to reiterate that this story rehashes claims from bogus lawsuits filed by a disreputable cast of individuals willing to lie for money or attention. And it is no surprise that, with ‘Bohemian Rhapsody’ being an award-winning hit, this homophobic smear piece has been conveniently timed to take advantage of its success.”

 

A post shared by Bryan Singer (@bryanjaysinger) on Oct 15, 2018 at 2:06am PDT