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Director Bryan Singer Faces Sexual Assault Allegations

By Lisa M. Schaffer, Esq. on January 25, 2019 | Last updated on March 21, 2019

Bryan Singer, the terminated director of the two-time Golden Globe winner Bohemian Rhapsody, has been publicly accused of sexual assault and misconduct in a recent article published in The Atlantic. The article claims that Singer sexually assaulted three males, two of whom were underaged and one not sure of his age at the time of the incident. Singer categorically denies these allegations, and claims that one of the authors of The Atlantic article has a weird obsession for him, and is also homophobic.

Numerous Allegations Against Singer of Sexual Assault

Singer was terminated from his role as director of Bohemian Rhapsody back in December 2017, just weeks before filming wrapped. Some say this was due to clashes on the set between Singer and the actors, though Singer claims it was because he wasn't being allowed time away to take care of with his mother, who had fallen ill. But perhaps it was due to something entirely different.

Just three days after Singer's termination became public, he was sued by Cesar Sanchez-Guzman, alleging Singer had raped him in 2003, when Sanchez-Guzman was only 17 years old. Singer denies ever meeting Sanchez-Guzman. Years earlier, Victor Valdovinoa, then a 13 year old boy, had accused Singer of sexual molestation, but ultimately refused to press charges, though he did receive an out of court settlement.

Immediately following the filing of the Sanchez-Guzman lawsuit, University of Southern California took Singer's name off one of its programs, the Bryan Singer Division of Cinema and Media Studies. Over 4,000 students had signed a petition for this removal after it became known in certain circles that there were a multitude of sexual assault allegations swirling around Singer.

Fallout Against Singer Has Already Started

Is this a case of "where there's smoke there's fire"? Or should it be "innocent until proven guilty"? In some cases, Singer has already experienced fallout from these claims. Though ultimately terminated from directing Bohemian Rhapsody, he is still the only director listed in its credits. However, he did not attend the Golden Globe awards, where the film won awards for Best Drama and Best Actor in a Motion Picture. Subsequently, the film, which seemed to be a shoe-in for the GLAAD Outstanding Film award, was removed from voting.

According to a GLAAD statement, "Singer's response to The Atlantic story wrongfully used 'homophobia' to deflect from sexual assault allegations and GLAAD urges the media and the industry at large to not gloss over the fact that survivors of sexual assault should be put first. The team that worked so hard on Bohemian Rhapsody as well as the legacy of Freddy [sic] Mercury deserve so much more than to be tainted in this way."

GLAAD, which stands for Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation, is a media monitoring organization founded by LGBT people in the media industry. Mercury, one of the greatest singers and performers of all time, identified as gay for portions of his life; he died from AIDS. It must have pained GLAAD to remove Bohemian Rhapsody from contention. Singer is still onboard for directing his next film, an adaptation of the comic character "Red Ninja."

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