Beleaguered X-Men director Bryan Singer is being sued for allegedly violently assaulting a 17-year-old boy on a yacht back in 2003, according to documents obtained by TMZ.
The lawsuit, brought against Singer by a man called Cesar Sanchez-Guzman, says that while attending a yacht party in the Seattle area along with a number of young gay men, Singer took Sanchez-Guzman, who was then 17, on a tour of the boat.
When they reached a private room, the suit claims that Singer forced the boy to perform oral sex on him, and then forcibly anally penetrated him, despite his repeated pleas to stop.
Sanchez-Guzman says that the boat was owned by wealthy tech investor Lester Waters, and that he hadn’t known Singer before the alleged assault except as a friend of Waters.
He also claims that after the alleged assault, Singer threatened him about telling anyone what had happened. The lawsuit states:
Later, Bryan Singer approached Cesar and told him that he was a producer in Hollywood and that he could help Cesar get into acting as long as Cesar never said anything about the incident. He then told Cesar that no one would believe him if he ever reported the incident, and that he could hire people who are capable of ruining someone’s reputation.
Singer has vehemently denied the allegations, and, through his lawyers, cast aspersions on Sanchez-Guzman’s character by pointing out that he had only recently been cleared of bankruptcy debts. His lawyer also drew comparisons between Sanchez-Guzman’s suit and that of Michael Egan, who sued Singer in 2014 for a similar alleged event, and who ended up withdrawing his case.
The lawsuit comes in the wake of Singer’s firing from the role of director for upcoming Freddie Mercury biopic Bohemian Rhapsody, after he failed to show up on set repeatedly.
You can read the full lawsuit here, but be aware that the specifics of the alleged assault are graphic.
If you would like to access support for issues around sexual assault, please contact 1800 RESPECT on 1800 737 732.
