Second Teen Sues 'X-Men' Director Bryan Singer for Sexual Abuse
A new lawsuit has been filed against Bryan Singer, this time by an unnamed British man who claims the embattled "X-Men" director also sexually abused him as a teenager, the plaintiff's lawyer said Monday (May 5).
The lawsuit in federal court in Los Angeles said that Singer, 48, and entertainment industry executive Gary Goddard, 59, coerced the British man into sex acts as a minor with the promise of helping him in an acting career. The man was not identified in court papers.
This is the second lawsuit naming Singer ahead of the May 23 release of his film "X-Men: Days of Future Past," which is expected to be one of the year's top grossing movies. Singer's lawyer has called the allegations in both lawsuits false and fabrications, and a bid to win money from the director behind other films in the "X-Men" superhero franchise. A lawyer for Goddard also denied the allegations, calling them spurious.
The lawsuit said the abuse happened between 2003 and 2006 and seeks unspecified damages.
The plaintiff's lawyer, Jeff Herman, also represents Michael Egan, who last month sued Singer, Goddard and two other entertainment executives over allegations that they abused him as part of an underage sex ring in Hollywood.
"Eventually, they established what my client thought was a mentorship, and what we allege is grooming. Over the grooming, my client turned 15, he asked my client to send him more explicit photos. Ultimately, this young boy sent him nude photographs, then they did some online chatting, and we allege in the complaint that Gary Goddard and my client engaged in nude chatting, my client was nude while Gary Goddard masturbated. When my client turned 16, Gary Goddard traveled to Great Britain, had my client come down to London to meet him there, where they engaged in sexual activity, specifically anal intercourse," Herman said at a news conference. Herman specializes in child sex abuse cases and was successful in litigation against a former Roman Catholic priest accused of raping boys.
Herman later described a scene following the London premiere of "Superman Returns" in 2006, in which it is alleged that Singer sexually abused the plaintiff at age 17 in a hotel room.
In that incident, according to the lawsuit, Goddard is said to have gotten a "large, muscle-bound man" to smack the plaintiff after he had told Singer and Goddard to stop grabbing him in a sexual manner.
"Under the pretense of showing him some 'Superman' memorabilia, Bryan Singer and Gary Goddard take this 17-year-old boy into the bedroom, they begin to try to do sexual things to him, he resists, he says 'no,' he's uncomfortable. Gary Goddard leaves the room and comes back with a big muscle-bound man. And he physically manhandles my client, he pushes them around, he holds them while Bryan Singer starts to take off his clothes. After a little while, they tell this man, the big man to leave and my client says 'I want to leave, I'm uncomfortable,' and then he's told, Bryan says to him, 'if you get on top of me and just do some sort of masturbatory thing, then you can leave.' My client complies, which he does while Gary Goddard is in the room. We allege that my client is lying on top of Bryan Singer naked to perform this type of sexual activity," says Herman.
Singer will not participate in promotion for the 20th Century Fox's "X-Men: Days of Future Past" because of the lawsuits.
Goddard is also accused of having sex with the plaintiff at age 16 in London and convincing the plaintiff to send him naked photos of himself.
Goddard produced youth TV programs in the 1980s and 1990s and his company, The Goddard Group, has created attractions at theme parks, including Universal Studios
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