Bryan Singer, the director best known for the X-Men series of films, is being sued over an allegation that he raped 17-year-old boy during a party 14 years ago.
Singer has denied the accusation.
In a complaint filed in Superior Court of the State of Washington for King County on Thursday, Cesar Sanchez-Guzman says he met Singer in 2003 at a party aboard a yacht owned by technology investor Lester Waters, who the complaint says "frequently hosted parties for young gay males in the Seattle area."
Sanchez-Guzman alleges that Singer, while giving him a tour of the yacht, lured him into the master stateroom, shut the door and demanded oral sex.
When Sanchez-Guzman refused, "Singer forced him into acts of oral and anal sex," according to the complaint. Sanchez-Guzman says he repeatedly pleaded for Singer to stop.
"Later ... 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," according to the complaint. "He then told Cesar that no one would believe him if he ever reported the incident and that he could hire people who are capable of ruining someone's reputation."
Sanchez-Guzman says the alleged incident left him with "severe psychological, mental and emotional injuries."
The latest revelations add to a growing list of charges of misconduct in Hollywood in the wake of those against producer Harvey Weinstein. However, the accounts of misconduct extend beyond Hollywood and have engulfed various media outlets, including NPR.
The director's attorney Andrew Brettler said in a statement that his client "categorically denies these allegations and will vehemently defend this lawsuit to the very end." Brettler also threatened to file a malicious prosecution lawsuit against Sanchez-Guzman.
Singer has been the subject of several sexual abuse and sexual assault accusations in the past, but each of them was dismissed.
On Monday, Singer was fired by Fox from the Freddie Mercury biopic Bohemian Rhapsody. Variety reports that his dismissal was "due to repeated failures to show up on the set" and that he has been replaced by director Dexter Fletcher.
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