Read the Full, Lurid Sex Assault Lawsuit Against Bryan Singer

It wasn’t necessarily a secret in Hollywood that famed director Bryan Singer, who’s openly gay, liked ’em young. In the 20 years he’s been in show biz he’s gained a reputation for being the biggest chicken hawk in the industry. But with the filing of a lawsuit this week that alleges he’d drugged and raped an underage boy, it would seem as though those chickens have have come home to roost.

Singer’s predilection for twinks is pretty well documented on the Internet gossip mill at this point. But it’s not that unusual for a middle aged male power player in Hollywood to want to sleep with 18 to 23 year olds. It’s practically cookie-cutter behavior in a town where 88-year-old Hugh Hefner is celebrated for his rotating harem of young blonde bombshells. (Hefner began dating his ex-girlfriend Kendra Wilkinson when he was 78 and she was 18.) The only difference with Singer is that he’s gay.

Back in 1997, Singer had been named as a defendant—along with several other people—in a series of lawsuits filed by the parents of teenaged extras on the set of Apt Pupil, who said their children were coerced into getting naked on camera. A closer look at the complaints suggest that they were a sleazy lawyer’s play for some easy money by working the parents up into a panic about Singer’s sexuality. (He was referred in the court documents as “a known homosexual,” as though it were an offense.) Singer actually had very little interaction with the extras, but the crew of the film were accused of “ogling, leering, and suggestive glances.” The DA refused to press charges as no laws had been broken. The civil cases, with their homophobic overtones, were later thrown out.

But the case filed against him this week in federal court would appear to be very different. Filed by one-time aspiring actor Michael Egan, Egan alleges that Singer was part of a group of Hollywood men who frequented parties circa 1999 at the M & C Estate, a California home Egan was first brought to by a friend, the younger brother of a man named Chad Shackley. Shackley had co-founded the company Digital Entertainment Network with Marc Collins-Rector, and both he and Collins-Rector have since had suits filed against them for sexual abuse. As result, Collins-Rector is now a registered sex offender after pleading guilty to charges of transporting minors across state lines to have sex.

In the suit, Egan alleges that Collins-Rector and Shackley put him on the DEN payroll as an actor, giving him $1,500 a week for legitimate work. But he was given an additional $600 a week “from different accounts without any designation of job duties, title, or position,” money Egan believes was given to all the teenage males forced to have sex with older men at the M&C Estate. Egan alleges that the M&C Estate was known for having parties full of drugs and alcohol for underage boys, who were pressured into taking the substances and sometimes drugged without their knowledge. Egan also says he was flown to the Paul Mitchell estate in Hawaii where similar events occurred. Details in the suit allege that:

• “Soon after Plaintiff was introduced to Collins-Rector and Chad, he was often told by them in a bullying manner that they had ‘gaydar’ and knew that Plaintiff was homosexual, a characterization which Plaintiff, who is heterosexual, categorically denied. He was told that he was part of the ‘group’, referring to the numerous young males who were lured to the M & C Estate for the purpose of sexual contact with the adult males who visited the M & C Estate ostensibly for recreational and business purposes.”
• Collins-Rector repeatedly forced Egan to have sex with him and once “pointed a firearm at Plaintiff and threatened to pull the trigger.” After that, Collins-Rector “forcibly locked Plaintiff for a period of time in a gun safe which was located in the master bedroom closet.”
• “He was advised that those adult males controlled hollywood and would destroy his hopes and dreams of an acting career if he did not keep them happy. They threatened to ‘eliminate’ him and his family, and told him they were monitoring not only his phone, but those of his family members, and asserted he would be ‘destroyed’ if he ever disclosed the unconscionable activities that occurred at the Estate.” These were threats that Singer was present for.
• Two to three months after Collins-Rector started sexual assaulting Egan, Egan claims Singer began to do the same, repeatedly masturbating in front of him, forcing him to perform oral sex on him and anally raping him.
• “Defendant Singer promised acting roles to Plaintiff in an X-Men movie, in commercials, and in other of his projects, and professed that he would arrange for Plaintiff to audition for roles and projects in others’ productions.” He also provided Egan with (and made it clear he was to do) copious drugs.
• In one of his more damning accusations against Singer, at one point while they were in Hawaii, Egan left the estate and took a walk. “When he returned to the Paul Mitchell estate, he came across Defendant Singer who was in the pool area. Defendant Singer verbally and loudly confronted Plaintiff for not having been available for him earlier and demanded that he undress. Defendant Singer frightened Plaintiff by pushing him into the pool, and rebuked Plaintiff for his attitude and reminded him that he was there to keep people happy. Defendant Singer put a handful of cocaine against Plaintiff’s nose and forced him to inhale it. Defendant Singer then provided Plaintiff with a beverage which he drank which significantly impacted his consciousness and his motor skills. Defendant Singer then entered the pool where he nonconsensually masturbated Plaintiff and performed oral sex upon him. Defendant Singer caused Plaintiff to rub his erect penis against Defendant Singer’s buttocks. He forced Plaintiff’s head underwater and made Plaintiff orally copulate him. He then caused Plaintiff to get out of the pool and lie face down on a lounge chair. To continue the sexual assault, Defendant Singer spit on Plaintiff’s buttocks, spanked him, and forced a handful of cocaine onto Plaintiff’s face. He then anally raped Plaintiff. He subsequently caused them to go to the jacuzzi where he provided another beverage to Plaintiff. Defendant Singer attempted to insert his penis into Plaintiff’s mouth which Plaintiff resisted, but he ultimately was able to force his penis into Plaintiff’s mouth. Defendant Singer then assisted Plaintiff to their room where he again anally raped Plaintiff.”

Egan is suing for intentional affliction of emotional distress, battery, assault and invasion of privacy by unreasonable intrusion. He is requesting compensation for damages and attorney’s fees. In a statement, Singer’s lawyer said the lawsuit is “absurd and defamatory.”