Bohemian Rhapsody star Rami Malek has spoken out about Bryan Singer, the ex-director of the Queen biopic who was recently accused of sexual assault.
During an appearance at the Santa Barbara Film Festival, Malek detailed his experience working with Singer when asked about the allegations lodged against the director. “In my situation with Bryan, it was not pleasant, not at all. And that’s about what I can say about it at this point,” he explained. "My heart goes out to anyone who has to live through anything like what I've heard and what is out there. It's awful, it's remarkable that this happens, I can appreciate so much what they've been through and how difficult this must be for them. In the light of the #MeToo era that this somehow seems to exist after that, it's a horrible thing."
Singer was fired in December 2017, before the completion of Bohemian Rhapsody, for failing to show up to work. With only two weeks left in production, Dexter Fletcher replaced Singer as the film's director. Malek and Singer were reportedly arguing on set, which is partially why Singer was terminated.
In January, The Atlantic published a report detailing sexual assault allegations against Singer. In the article, four men accuse the director of engaging in sexual encounters with them when they were underage. Singer denied the allegations, calling the article a "homophobic smear piece," which he claimed only emerged in light of Bohemian Rhapsody's success. However, Singer had been accused of sexual assault prior to the exposé in The Atlantic, including Cesar Sanchez-Guzman's account that Singer had raped him in 2003 when Sanchez-Guzman was 17-years-old.
Despite the mounting allegations against Singer, the director is set to be at the helm of the upcoming film Red Sonja.
