Bryan Singer Hit With Multiple Sexual Assault Allegations In New Report

A new report details multiple new sexual assault allegations against X-Men and Bohemian Rhapsody director Bryan Singer. The Atlantic published an investigation into Singer detailing the claims of four men who accuse the director of sexually abusing them when they were underage.

Among the accusers is Victor Valdovinos, who said he was an extra on Apt Pupil which Singer directed in 1997. Valdovinos says that he was thirteen at the time and that Singer “grabbed my genitals and started masturbating it” and “rubbed his front part on me.” Valdovinos says Singer told him while doing so, “You’re so good-looking…I really want to work with you…I have a nice Ferrari…I’m going to take care of you.”

The other three men did not use their real names, fearing retaliation for coming forward. They claimed that Singer found them at parties when they were teenagers and molested or raped each of them. One accuser said, “He was predatory in that he would ply people with alcohol and drugs and then have sex with them.” Atlantic says that the investigation ran twelve months and included over fifty sources. The article said that Singer is protected by “an industry in which a record of producing hits confers immense power: Many of the sources we interviewed insisted, out of fear of damaging their own career, that we withhold their name, even as they expressed dismay at the behavior they’d witnessed.”

Singer has been accused of sexually assaulting and molesting underage boys several times in the past, most recently in December of 2017 when he was sued for allegedly raping a seventeen year-old in 2003. He also tried to shut down the Atlantic’s report in October, when it was originally set to be published by Esquire. An Esquire spokesperson has yet to comment on why the report was not published through them.

Maximillian Potter and Alex French, who conducted the investigation and wrote the report, said in a statement (via HuffPost) that executives at Hearst, the parent company of Esquire’s parent company, killed the story without giving a reason.

“After months of reporting, the story went through Esquire’s editorial process, which included fact-checking and vetting by a Hearst attorney, and the story was approved for publication. The story was then killed by Hearst executives. We do not know why,” the two said. “…we are most grateful that the alleged victims now have a chance to be heard and we hope the substance of their allegations remains the focus.”

Singer has issued a statement in which he accuses one of the reporters of being “a homophobic journalist who has a bizarre obsession with me dating back to 1997.”

He adds, “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.”