X-Men director Bryan Singer is being sued by a man who said that Singer sexually assaulted him when he was 17.
The lawsuit—which was filed Thursday in Washington state—lists Cesar Sanchez-Guzman as the plaintiff, who is seeking “general and specific damages” for a sexual assault that took place in 2003.
Sanchez-Guzman said that he met Singer when Sanchez-Guzman attended a party after being invited by Lester Waters (who owned the boat). Sanchez-Guzman said that he didn’t know that Singer was a director and producer, only that he was friends with Waters.
According to Sanchez-Guzman, Singer gave him a tour of the yacht, and after they entered the master bedroom Singer closed the door and “demanded that Cesar perform oral sex.” After refusing, Singer allegedly “forced him into acts of oral and anal sex.”
After the alleged sexual assault occurred, Sanchez-Guzman said that Singer attempted to silence him by offering him help with an acting career and threatening to ruin his reputation.
“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,” the lawsuit stated. “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.”
In a statement, Singer denied this.
“Bryan categorically denies these allegations and will vehemently defend this lawsuit to the very end,” Singer’s lawyer Andrew Brettler said in a statement.
The law firm representing Sanchez-Guzman, Herman Law, also represented Michael Egan in a 2014 lawsuit where Egan said that Singer drugged and raped him in 1999, but that lawsuit was later dropped.
Singer also denied the allegations in a new interview with TMZ, saying “I hope not” when asked if he thought if it would affect his career.
The lawsuit comes several days after Singer was fired from Bohemian Rhapsody, the Freddie Mercury biopic starring Mr. Robot’s Rami Malek, after production shut down due to Singer’s absence and reports of an on-set clash with Malek.
You can read the full complaint here.
H/T New York Times