Despite new allegations of sexual abuse surfacing against Bryan Singer, he will remain as director on the Red Sonja reboot.
The news comes via a statement from producer Avi Lerner to The Hollywood Reporter, even as more accusers come forward.
"I continue to be in development for Red Sonja and Bryan Singer continues to be attached," the statement reads. "The over $800 million Bohemian Rhapsody has grossed, making it the highest grossing drama in film history, is testament to his remarkable vision and acumen. I know the difference between agenda driven fake news and reality, and I am very comfortable with this decision. In America people are innocent until proven otherwise."
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It's a very succinct and self-explanatory statement that may bewilder folks who felt that, with the new accusations, Millennium Films would distance themselves from Singer. However, that's not the case, and the studio is backing the director amid a flurry of accusations.
Yesterday, Singer finally addressed the new claims, calling them a smear campaign despite on-the-record accounts and testimonies from young men accusing him of inappropriate advances, sexual misconduct and, in one case, rape, which left the victim "psychologically damaged, with substance-abuse problems, depression, and PTSD."
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The trouble dates back to Singer being sued in 2014 by Michael Egan III, who alleged that he was 17 years old when the director drugged and raped him at parties held in 1999. Egan dropped the lawsuit four months later. However, Singer was then accused again in 2017, mere days after he was fired from the Oscar-nominated Bohemian Rhapsody, of sexually assaulting a 17-year-old boy during a 2003 party.
The director has denied those allegations as well, but the lawsuit filed by Cesar Sanchez-Guzman is pending. He was removed as an executive producer on FX's Legion and his status as executive producer for Fox's The Gifted also came into question, but as we can see, Lerner has no issues moving forward with this cloud over Red Sonja.