“X-Men” director Bryan Singer is being accused of drugging, raping, and using his power to exploit a teenage boy in a lawsuit filed Wednesday, according to court documents obtained by TheWrap.
According to the lawsuit filed in federal court in Hawaii, plaintiff Michael Egan, who was named in a press release by his lawyers, was 17 when he was forcibly sodomized by Singer, among other accusations.
Defendant, BRYAN JAY SINGER, manipulated his power, wealth, and position in the entertainment industry to sexually abuse and exploit the underage Plaintiff through the use of drugs, alcohol, threats, and inducements which resulted in Plaintiff suffering catastrophic psychological and emotional injuries. Defendant Singer did so as part of a group of adult males similarly positioned in the entertainment industry that maintained and exploited boys in a sordid sex ring. A Hollywood mogul must not use his position to sexually exploit underage actors.
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An attorney for Singer said the lawsuit was “completely without merit.”
“We are very confident that Bryan will be vindicated in this absurd and defamatory lawsuit,” said Martin Singer. “It is obvious that this case was filed in an attempt to get publicity at the time when Bryan’ s new movie is about to open in a few weeks.”
The suit alleges Singer provided Egan with drugs and alcohol and flew him to Hawaii for sex on more than one occasion in 1999 where Singer continued to “anally rape” him, and claims that Egan was not the only underage boy who was abused.
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Plaintiff has requested a jury trial and is seeking an unspecified amount in damages for charges of intentional infliction of emotional distress, battery, assault, and invasion of privacy by unreasonable intrusion.
The lawsuit was filed a month before the release of Singer’s next movie, “X-Men: Days of Future Past,” is due in theaters. Fox, which is releasing that film, told TheWrap in a statement: “These are serious allegations, and they will be resolved in the appropriate forum. This is a personal matter, which Bryan Singer and his representatives are addressing separately.”
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The abuse allegedly began in 1998, shortly after Egan was lured to parties at a house in Encino, Calif. where a high school friend lived, the lawsuit claims. The house, known as the M & C Estate, was often the site of “notorious parties” where adult males allegedly preyed on young boys, the lawsuit claims.
According to the lawsuit, Egan was a model and aspiring actor. The documents claim Singer told Egan at one such party that “the adults who resided in or frequented the M & C Estate controlled Hollywood and could decide whether Plaintiff’s career aspirations and hopes would be realized” and was also present when Egan was warned to keep those men “happy” or else he and his family were in danger.
The men supposedly told Egan they were sure he was homosexual according to their “gaydar,” even though Egan told them he was straight, and plied him with drugs and alcohol against his will and often without his knowledge.
“Plaintiff was often forced to consume alcoholic beverages and drugs, and was also surreptitiously administered drugs when they were placed in beverages that he consumed,” the lawsuit reads.
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One of the men who allegedly lived at M & C Estate, former Digital Entertainment Network chairman Marc Collins-Rector, is accused of initiating the sexual abuse of Egan and arranging for Singer to assault Egan as well.
Approximately 2-3 months after Collins-Rector began sexually abusing Plaintiff, Defendant Singer was socializing with Collins-Rector around the estate’s swimming pool and Plaintiff was in the pool. In compliance with the “rules” imposed by Collins-Rector that people in the pool area were not allowed to wear clothes, Plaintiff was nude as was Defendant Singer.
Collins-Rector ordered Plaintiff out of the pool, and Defendant Singer hugged Plaintiff and grabbed his bare buttocks. They then went to the jacuzzi where Collins-Rector had Plaintiff sit on his lap and fondled Plaintiff’s genitals. Collins-Rector then passed Plaintiff to Defendant Singer and Plaintiff was made to sit on Defendant Singer’s lap.
Defendant Singer provided an alcoholic beverage to Plaintiff and mentioned finding a role for him in an upcoming movie that he was directing. Defendant Singer told Plaintiff how “this group” controls Hollywood, and that he was sexy. Defendant Singer masturbated Plaintiff and then performed oral sex upon him. Defendant Singer solicited Plaintiff to perform oral sex upon him which Plaintiff resisted.
Defendant Singer flagrantly disregarded Plaintiff’s unwillingness to submit, and forced Plaintiff’s head underwater to make Plaintiff perform oral sex upon him. When Plaintiff pulled his head out of the water in order to breathe, Defendant Singer demanded that he continue which Plaintiff refused. Defendant Singer then forced Plaintiff to continue performing oral sex upon him outside of the pool, and subsequently forcibly sodomized Plaintiff.
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Collins-Rector, a convicted sex offender who pled guilty in 2004 to luring five minors across state lines to have sex with them, was also accused of holding a gun to Egan and threatening to fire if he continued to resist submitting to sexual contact.
That threat supposedly convinced Egan to continue complying with Singer’s alleged requests for sex when he was flown to Hawaii. Singer also allegedly promised acting roles to Egan if he complied.
Defendant Singer promised acting roles to Plaintiff in an ‘X-Men’ movie, in commercials, and in other of his projects, and professed that he would arrange for Plaintiff to audition for roles and projects in others’ productions. Often when Plaintiff dared to resist the demands of Defendant Singer, he threatened to report Plaintiff’s refusals to Collins-Rector which frightened Plaintiff due to Collins-Rector’s history of threatening harm to him and his family, his previous display of the firearm, his having previously locked Plaintiff in a gun closet, and the presence of firearms in the Paul Mitchell estate.
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During the first Hawaii trip, Singer allegedly “put a handful of cocaine against Plaintiff’s nose and forced him to inhale it” and “provided Plaintiff with a beverage which he drank which significantly impacted his consciousness and his motor skills” before anally raping him twice.
During the first of the above-referenced trips to Hawaii, Plaintiff was instructed that he would spend the first two nights in a room with Defendant Singer. During the first night, Plaintiff took a long walk by himself. When he returned to the Paul Mitchell estate, he came across Defendant Singer who was in the pool area. Defendant Singer verbally and loudly confronted Plaintiff for not having been available for him earlier and demanded that he undress.
Defendant Singer frightened Plaintiff by pushing him into the pool, and rebuked Plaintiff for his attitude and reminded him that he was there to keep people happy. Defendant Singer put a handful of cocaine against Plaintiff’s nose and forced him to inhale it. Defendant Singer then provided Plaintiff with a beverage which he drank which significantly impacted his consciousness and his motor skills.
Defendant Singer then entered the pool where he nonconsensually masturbated Plaintiff and performed oral sex upon him. Defendant Singer caused Plaintiff to rub his erect penis against Defendant Singer’s buttocks. He forced Plaintiff’s head underwater and made Plaintiff orally copulate him. He then caused Plaintiff to get out of the pool and lie face down on a lounge chair. To continue the sexual assault, Defendant Singer spit on Plaintiff’s buttocks, spanked him, and forced a handful of cocaine onto Plaintiff’s face.
He then anally raped Plaintiff. He subsequently caused them to go to the jacuzzi where he provided another beverage to Plaintiff. Defendant Singer attempted to insert his penis into Plaintiff’s mouth which Plaintiff resisted, but he ultimately was able to force his penis into Plaintiff’s mouth. Defendant Singer then assisted Plaintiff to their room where he again anally raped Plaintiff.
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Attorney Jeff Herman said he planned to file more lawsuits against Singer and others involved in the alleged parties.
“Hollywood has a problem with the sexual exploitation of children,” Herman said. “This is the first of many cases I will be filing to give these victims a voice and to expose the issue.”
Herman previously represented the five plaintiffs who accused Sesame Street Elmo puppeteer Kevin Clash of sexually abusing them. Three of the suits were dismissed due to the statute of limitations running out, however, the plaintiffs vowed to appeal. One other plaintiff dropped his complaint, and a fifth plaintiff’s suit is currently active.
Clash resigned from Sesame Street in November 2012, after the second accuser filed suit against him.
Pamela Chelin, Jethro Nededog, and Sharon Waxman contributed to this report.