The director of Bohemian Rhapsody is under fire again when a piece in The Atlantic was published alleging that Bryan Singer, had sex with underage boys.
The allegations were made by four boys, who reported to Alex French and Maximillian Potter. Both the reporters have spent a year investigating lawsuits and have interviewed more than 50 sources before publishing the article.
But, 53-year-old Singer believes that these allegations are timed because they just want to capitalize on the success of Bohemian Rhapsody - which got nominated for 5 Oscar awards.
Singer described this piece to be a "homophobic smear piece" in a statement sent to AFP by his lawyer.
"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," he further enhanced.
Apparently, as per Singer, both French and Potter are "homophobic" and it was their regressive attitude that made them want to publish an article against the director. They tried to do so in 1997 by publishing a similar article but back then "After careful fact-checking and, in consideration of the lack of credible sources, Esquire chose not to publish this piece of vendetta journalism," Singer stated.
However, the journalists claimed that it had to be run on the Atlantic because editors rejected it in Hearst, which own Esquire, for reasons unknown.
In the interview, that was published in the Atlantic, one of the accusers claimed that Singer was "predatory" and that one of his common methods was to get the victim high, with drugs and alcohol before preying on them. And he also knew that they were below 18 years of age.
Although, this is not the first major accusation made against the director. There has been many in the past related to sexual abuse of teenage boys – and interestingly, many of them have been settled outside court or were dropped.
Rami Malek, who portrayed Freddie Mercury in the movie, confessed that he was not aware of Singer's past, "I think that the allegations and things were, believe it or not, honestly something I was not aware of, and that is what it is," Malek said.
Singer was fired by Fox during the final weeks of the shoot, and was replaced by Dexter Fletcher, when Singer failed to show up for work. Although, Singer claims that he was let go because the production company did not allow him to take care of an ill parent.
The latest allegations just keep on adding to the number of people in Hollywood who are being called out for sexual harassment and assault.
