A few days ago Bryan SInger was fired as the director of the Queen/Freddie Mercury biopic, Bohemian Rhapsody. At the time, some wondered whether there was more to it than just Singer failing to return to the set after Thanksgiving, and whether 20th Century Fox was aware that something else was on its way, and so moved to head it off. That looks like less of a conspiracy theory now, as a man called Cesar Sanchez-Guzman has stepped forward to accused Singer of rape, and has launched lawsuit for compensation.

This follows a firestorm of accusations of innapropriate behaviour with minors that swirled around Singer three years ago, but which the helmer managed to recover from after major questions about his accuser’s legitimacy emerged.

Cesar Sanchez-Guzman says that in 2003, when he was 17-year-old, he was at a party with SInger and others on a yacht in Seattle. During the evening Singer managed to get him into a room alone and wanted oral sex, when Sanchez-Guzman refused, he says Singer persisted and the director then forcibly performed oral sex on him, before penetrating him anally against his will. The lawsuit says Singer, ‘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.’

A representative of Singer has issued a swift denial, reading, “Bryan categorically denies these allegations and will vehemently defend this lawsuit to the very end. Cesar Sanchez-Guzman apparently claims that he did not remember this alleged incident from 2003 until now. Significantly, when Sanchez-Guzman filed for bankruptcy only a few years ago, he failed to disclose this alleged claim when he was supposed to identify all of his assets, but conveniently, now that the bankruptcy court discharged all of his debts, he is able to recall the alleged events. The attorney behind this lawsuit is the same lawyer who represented Michael Egan, the convicted felon who sued Bryan Singer in 2014. In the end, Egan was forced to dismiss that case once the facts came out and his story completely fell apart. Egan and his attorneys then found themselves as defendants in a malicious prosecution action brought by some of the individuals who Egan previously sued. In an apology to those individuals, Egan’s attorney acknowledged the claims that had been filed were ‘untrue and provably false.’ Notwithstanding his track record, this same lawyer is coming after Bryan again. We are confident that this case will turn out the same way the Egan case did. And once Bryan prevails, he will pursue his own claims for malicious prosecution.”

While Singer managed to recover from previous accusations (and longstanding rumours of a liking for being surrounded by very young men), in the current climate of #metoo, he may find it far more difficult to stop it affecting his career.

Since being fired from Bohemian Rhapsody, Fox has quickly moved to replace him, bringing in Dexter Fletcher (Eddie The Eagle) to finish the film, which will start shooting again soon. Rami Malek is playing Freddie Mercury, with the movie set for a Christmas 2018 release.