Director Bryan Singer has been dogged by accusations of sexual misconduct for some two decades now. He has seen accusations of sexual assault and child sexual abuse since his 1997 film Apt Pupil. The Atlantic has recently published a new expose detailing accusations from 4 additional men claiming that singer had sex with them whilst they were under the age of consent. In the expose they claim to have spent 12 months investigating the various lawsuits against Singer. The article itself can make for some difficult reading, but it can be read here.
In light of these new allegations, it has been revealed that Singer will still carry on with directing duties on the film Red Sonja. He will be paid a reported $10million for his work. Millennium films have apparently been inundated by calls and emails regarding the matter and expressing frustration with their continued working relationship with Singer.
Producer of the film, Avi Lerner had this to say:
“I continue to be in development for Red Sonja and Bryan Singer continues to be attached,”
The director himself has since responded to the report with the following:
“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.”
And in October he had posted this on Instagram:
View this post on Instagram
Red Sonja as a character has been around since the 1934 short story “The Shadow of the Vulture” by Robert E. Howard and has spawned various uses of the character in other media. Red Sonja herself endured sexual assault, before becoming a sword-wielding badass.
Should these allegations prove true, the fact that Singer is directing a movie about this character is a huge kick in the teeth for the people involved and if they are true and will drag up all their memories again, which isn’t fair and would say a lot about the man himself for being willing to take on such a role.
Obviously, I’m not here to judge, I just hope that we find out the truth either way. Either the victims need justice or an innocent man needs to be left alone, however, such a number of allegations over so many years is extremely concerning.
