X-Men Director Bryan Singer Seeks To Get Sex-Abuse Lawsuit Dismissed

As his lawyer had promised to do, Bryan Singer has now filed a motion to have the sex-abuse lawsuit against him summarily dismissed, according to THR. He is hoping the whole thing will go away, citing alack of jurisdiction.

His accuser, Michael Egan, filed the lawsuit in Hawaii, alleging much of the abuse took place there. While Egans said other abuse took place in California, the statute of limitations in California prevented a case being filed there, while Hawaii had a statute amnesty that allowed him to sue there until the the end of April.

Soon after the allegations surface though, evidence emerged from Egan’s sex abuse lawsuit against two other men back in 2003, where in a sworn deposition he said that he’d “never had any trips outside the continental U.S.” He is then said to have specifically been asked about Hawaii and he confirmed he’d never been there. And if no abuse took play place in Hawaii, he can’t sue there.

Indeed Egan’s earlier statements are causing problems for cases he’s brought against three other men as well. For example he’s also sued David Neuman, but in 2003 he specifically said that he’d “never had any kind of physical contact” with Neuman and that the former Disney TV president had “never acted improperly.”

Singer’s motion reserves the right to seek sanctions against Egan’s lawyer, Jerry Hernan. In fact Singer’s lawyer, Marty Singer [no relation] has certainly not held back from attacking Hernan, painting him as a gold-digger out to destroy people despite a lack of evidence (allegedly).

So far, Hernan’s only response to Singer’s dismissal motion is to say, “I do have a response, but I am restricted in that I can only talk about what is in the court record. Many of the things being reported are being taken out of context or you’re only hearing one side of the story. At the appropriate time and in the appropriate venue, we will respond.”

That will presumably be on July 28th, when the judge is due to officially hear the motion. It’s certainly not a slam-dunk that Bryan Singer will be successful in getting the charges dismissed, as the judge may feel that if Egan now says he was in Hawaii, that’s enough to allow a trial where there will be a fuller disclosure of facts and any explanation of the discrepancies. However with the publicity and pressure surrounding the case, she may decide that nipping it in the bud is the best idea, especially if she feels there’s no realistic prospect of Egan winning (at least on fair grounds).

While all this is still hanging over Bryan Singer’s head, he can at least take solace in the fact many expect his new movie, X-Men: Days Of Future Past, to have a $100 million plus US opening this weekend.