--- title: X-Men Director Bryan Singer Faces Civil Suit for Sexual Abuse of Teen description: Singer is accused of sexually abusing an aspiring teen actor 15 years ago, according to a civil suit filed in court in Hawaii. canonical: https://time.com/66200/x-men-bryan-singer-teen-sex-abuse/ author: Charlie Campbell article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2014-04-17T09:09:03.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-02-21T07:21:09.608Z article:section: Entertainment og:title: X-Men Director Bryan Singer Faces Civil Suit for Sexual Abuse of Teen og:description: Singer is accused of sexually abusing an aspiring teen actor 15 years ago, according to a civil suit filed in court in Hawaii. og:url: https://time.com/66200/x-men-bryan-singer-teen-sex-abuse/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt0b2298afd22553b0/69868b06cd68484fcc0942e3/ent_bryan_singer_sex_abuse_0416.jpg?branch=production&width=2400&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 675 og:image:alt: ent_bryan_singer_sex_abuse_0416 og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: X-Men Director Bryan Singer Faces Civil Suit for Sexual Abuse of Teen twitter:description: Singer is accused of sexually abusing an aspiring teen actor 15 years ago, according to a civil suit filed in court in Hawaii. twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt0b2298afd22553b0/69868b06cd68484fcc0942e3/ent_bryan_singer_sex_abuse_0416.jpg?branch=production&width=2400&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # _X-Men_ Director Bryan Singer Accused of Teen Sex Abuse  by [Charlie Campbell](https://time.com/author/charlie-campbell/)  ## Charlie Campbell Editor at Large Apr 17, 2014 9:09 AM UTC  Director Bryan Singer denies abusing an aspiring teen actor 15 years ago. Director Bryan Singer denies abusing an aspiring teen actor 15 years ago.Phil McCarten—Reuters  by [Charlie Campbell](https://time.com/author/charlie-campbell/)  ## Charlie Campbell Editor at Large Apr 17, 2014 9:09 AM UTC _X-Men_ director Bryan Singer stands [accused](http://www.cnn.com/2014/04/17/showbiz/bryan-singer-sex-lawsuit/index.html) of sexually abusing an aspiring teen actor 15 years ago, according to a civil suit filed in U.S. District Court in Hawaii Wednesday. Singer, 48, one of Hollywood’s most successful directors and producers, allegedly offered the plaintiff a film role in the Marvel Comics franchise if the the teen submitted to his sexual demands, and threatened to destroy his career if he refused. The director’s legal representative said the “absurd and defamatory” accusations were “completely without merit” and he was certain his client would be vindicated. “It is obvious that this case was filed in an attempt to get publicity at the time when Bryan’s new movie is about to open in a few weeks,” said the attorney. Most of the alleged sex abuse was supposed to have taken place at parties at a California mansion in 1998 and 1999 when the plaintiff was 17, according to court papers. New York-born Singer rose to international prominence with his 1995 breakthrough smash hit _The Usual Suspects_, which won two Oscars. ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/66200/x-men-bryan-singer-teen-sex-abuse/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/66200/x-men-bryan-singer-teen-sex-abuse/"},"headline":"X-Men Director Bryan Singer Accused of Teen Sex Abuse","datePublished":"2014-04-17T09:09:03.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-21T07:21:09.608Z","description":"Court papers filed Wednesday allege the Hollywood icon sexually abused a teenage boy in 1998 and 1999. The plaintiff claims to have been coerced into sexual acts with the promise of a role in an X-Men film. Singer denies all allegations","url":"https://time.com/66200/x-men-bryan-singer-teen-sex-abuse/","keywords":["Crime","Hollywood","X-Men"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt0b2298afd22553b0/69868b06cd68484fcc0942e3/ent_bryan_singer_sex_abuse_0416.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Charlie Campbell","jobTitle":"Editor at Large","url":"https://time.com/author/charlie-campbell/"}],"articleSection":"Entertainment","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt0b2298afd22553b0/69868b06cd68484fcc0942e3/ent_bryan_singer_sex_abuse_0416.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"ent_bryan_singer_sex_abuse_0416","caption":"Director Bryan Singer","creditText":"Phil McCarten—Reuters","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/entertainment/","name":"Entertainment"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/66200/x-men-bryan-singer-teen-sex-abuse/","name":"X-Men Director Bryan Singer Accused of Teen Sex Abuse"}}]}] ```