Director Bryan Singer has been accused in a lawsuit of sexually assaulting a 17-year-old boy at a party more than a decade ago.
The lawsuit filed in Seattle claims Singer demanded sex from Cesar Sanchez-Guzman during a 2003 yacht party. After the then-teenager refused, the lawsuit says, Singer pushed him on the bed and sexually assaulted him.
The lawsuit charges Singer with sexual assault and battery, intentional infliction of emotional distress and sexual exploitation of children.
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According to the court document obtained by Variety, Sanchez-Guzman was at the party on a yacht owned and hosted by Lester Waters, who, according to the lawsuit “was a wealthy tech investor who frequently hosted parties for young gay males in the Seattle area.”
According to the lawsuit, Singer allegedly approached Sanchez-Guzman and offered to give him a tour of the yacht and the suit claims that Sanchez-Guzman was taken to a room where Singer allegedly “thrust his body” on the then-teenager.
The suit alleges that “Singer then forced Cesar to the floor, shoved Cesar’s face against his crotch area and demanded Cesar perform oral sex on him.”
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It also alleges that despite Sanchez-Guzman pleading for him to stop, the director forcibly performed oral and anal sex on Sanchez-Guzman.
The suit also alleges that Singer promised acting roles in exchange for Sanchez-Gomez’s silence about the alleged sexual acts.
The court documents state that, “Later, Bryan Singer approached Cesar and told him that he was a producer in Hollywood and that he could help Cesar get into acting as long as Cesar never said anything about the incident.”
The lawsuit asks for damages to be determined at a trial.
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A representative for Singer told The New York Times that the director denies the allegations “and will vehemently defend this lawsuit to the very end.”
Singer was previously sued for sexual misconduct in 2014 by Michael Egan, who accused the director of abusing him as a minor. Singer called the claims “completely false” and a “sick, twisted shakedown” at the time. The lawsuit was later dismissed.
The allegations come three days after Singer was fired from directing the Queen biopic, Bohemian Rhapsody.
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In a statement, Singer refuted reports that his firing was the result of a disagreement with the film’s lead actor, Rami Malek. “While, at times, we did have creative differences on set, Rami and I successfully put those differences behind us and continued to work on the film together until just prior to Thanksgiving.”
Singer claimed his firing was due to dealing with “health matters” involving one of his parents.
Singer directed Superman Returns and several X-Men movies.
He is the latest to be caught up in a wave of sexual harassment and abuse allegations against powerful men in the entertainment industry, media and politics that began in October with accusations against Harvey Weinstein.
—With files from the Associated Press
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