Bryan Singer Accuser's Lawsuit Dismissed: The Messy Chain of Events That Got Us Here
Michael Egan, the 31-year-old who accused director Bryan Singer and others of sexual abuse earlier this year, has dropped his suit against Singer. Though a momentary loss, the suit was dismissed without prejudice, which means he can file again – without his attorney Jeff Herman, who dropped Egan as a client last month.
You'd be forgiven for not remembering every twist and turn in the Singer case. Since Egan first accused the director of abusing him at parties in the late '90s last April, the tale has taken several different twists and turns. This is our best effort to put the pieces of the puzzle back together.
NOTE: For simplicity's sake, this timeline focuses primarily on the suits against Singer, not on Egan's other suits. Another plaintiff's suit against Singer and another defendant is referenced.
April 16: Egan files his lawsuit in Hawaii District Court eight days before the statute of limitations was set to expire. Egan, now 31, accuses Singer of abusing him when he was 17 in both California and Hawaii. However, only the latter state's statute of limitations still applies.
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April 17: Singer's attorney, Marty Singer (no relation, but boy does it make talking about the two of them messy), says in a statement that the claims were "completely without merit." Herman says there will be more lawsuits against other individuals in a press conference. Singer drops out of press for his new film X-Men: Days of Future Past.
April 18: BuzzFeed uncovers that Egan and Alexander Burton, who played Pyro in Singer's first X-Men film, were plaintiffs in a 2000 sexual abuse suit against Marc Collins-Rector. Collins-Rector is a friend of Singer's who allegedly threw the parties where Singer and others abused Egan. Gawker's Jordan Sargent publishes a set of anonymous letters from those who have allegedly witnessed Singer's predilection for younger men.
April 24: BuzzFeed reports that Collins-Rector renounced his American citizenship in 2011, and hasn't been heard of since.
May 4: A second lawsuit, first reported by The Daily Beast, is filed against Singer and theater producer Gary Goddard. The plaintiff, a John Doe, is British and was allegedly abused several times from age 15 onward by both men.
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May 13: BuzzFeed publishes a 2003 deposition in which Egan swore he'd never been outside of the continental U.S. Whether this includes Hawaii or not isn't immediately clear; Herman tells BuzzFeed, “I’m not sure how he interpreted the continental United States." This is significant, of course, because if the claims in Hawaii aren't valid, the suit is dead.
May 21: The Hollywood Reporter reports that Singer files a motion to dismiss against Egan's suit, citing the 2003 deposition.
May 23: Goddard files a motion to dismiss and provides evidence that he was not in Hawaii at the time the lawsuit alleged (mostly receipts and other time-stamped items).
June 26: BuzzFeed finds Collins-Rector. He's living in Antwerp, Belgium.
July 3: Singer files a motion to dismiss against the John Doe's suit.
July 25: John Doe's suit against Singer is dismissed. The suit against Goddard stays alive.
July 29: Herman, Egan's lawyer, drops the plaintiff as a client. BuzzFeed publishes documents that show that Singer tried to settle the suit for $100,000 in June, but Egan didn't agree.
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August 28: A judge grants Egan's motion to dismiss without prejudice. Egan is free to gain new representation and file suit again.
This article was originally published at http://www.thewire.com/entertainment/2014/08/bryan-singer-accusers-lawsuit-dismissed-the-messy-chain-of-events-that-got-us-here/379282/
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