|
 Michael Egan, 31, who was an aspiring teen actor, said he and
his mother told the Los Angeles Police Department and the FBI in
late 1999 and 2000 that Egan was being abused by an underage sex
ring.
"What happened was basically it fell on deaf ears," Egan said a
news conference seated next to his attorney, Jeff Herman. "We
didn't get anywhere and then I basically buried it in me as deep
as I possibly could."
Herman filed a civil lawsuit on Wednesday in federal court in
Hawaii, alleging that Singer, 48, used his influence as a
Hollywood insider as well as a range of drugs and alcohol to
force anal and oral sex on Egan while promising him film roles.
Singer's attorney, Marty Singer, has called the claims
"completely fabricated." The LAPD said it does not comment on
current litigation.
The lawsuit comes weeks before Singer's "X-Men" film opens in
U.S. theaters on May 23. It could complicate the global
promotion rollout for distributor 20th Century Fox by pushing
the director's legal problem to the forefront of what is
expected to be one of the year's top-grossing films.
The film starring Hugh Jackman and Jennifer Lawrence is
projected to gross $103 million in its opening weekend,
according to Boxoffice.com.
"We look forward to our bringing a claim for malicious
prosecution against Mr. Egan and his attorney after we prevail,"
Singer's attorney said in a statement after the news conference.
Egan said he brought the suit now after going through trauma
therapy, which he began 11 months ago.
"I was raped numerous times in that house by numerous
individuals," Egan said. "You were like a piece of meat to these
people. They'd pass you around between them."
[to top of second column] |
 FOX CALLS CASE "PERSONAL MATTER"
Singer, who directed "X-Men" in 2000 and its sequel "X2" in
2003, is also signed on to direct the next installment in the
franchise, "X-Men: Apocalypse," for Fox. The film is scheduled
to be released in 2016.
"These are serious allegations, and they will be resolved in the
appropriate forum," Fox said in a statement. "This is a personal
matter, which Bryan Singer and his representatives are addressing
separately."
Egan seeks unspecified damages and a jury trial after wide-ranging
abuses at California and Hawaii house parties beginning in the late
1990s, according to the civil action.
"Mike was being influenced by wanting to be in the business," Herman
said. The attorney added that the lawsuit was filed now because in
Hawaii legal limitations require a civil child sex abuse case to be
filed by April 24.
"Hollywood moguls have been using their positions of authority to
exploit children sexually," said Herman, who is noted for his
representation of sex abuse victims, having filed suits against the
Roman Catholic Church and Kevin Clash, the former voice of Sesame
Street character Elmo.
The lawsuit accuses Marc Collins-Rector, a former entertainment
business executive and registered sex offender, of initiating the
sexual abuse by arranging for Singer to meet Egan at "notorious
parties" in Encino, California, around 1998.
Egan alleged liquor would be poured down his throat at the parties
and that Collins-Rector once threatened him by putting a gun in his
mouth. Collins-Rector could not be reached for comment and is not
listed as a defendant in the suit.
(Editing by Mary Milliken and Ken Wills)
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