Bryan Singer has agreed to pay $150,000 to a man who accused him of rape.
The 53-year-old director has denied "even knowing" Cesar Sanchez-Guzman and though he has maintained his innocence over claims he raped his accuser at a yacht party in 2003 when he was just 17, he agreed to hand over the sum because it would be cheaper than fighting the matter in court.
Cesar filed for bankruptcy in 2014 and the case was discharged, but later reopened to include his case against the ‘X-Men’ filmmaker as an asset as any proceeds from his December 2017 lawsuit would go to his creditors.
Singer’s attorney, Andrew Brettler, said in a statement to Variety: "The debtor filed a claim against Mr. Singer that he had no basis or legal right to file.
"Mr. Singer has denied even knowing this individual, let alone allegedly having interacted with him more than 15 years ago.
"The decision to resolve the matter with the bankruptcy trustee was purely a business one, as litigation costs would well exceed the amount requested by the trustee to pay off the creditors who were owed money when the debtor filed for bankruptcy."
$61,000 will go to creditors, while additional funds will be used to pay for "administration of the case." The remainder of the sum will go directly to Cesar.
Earlier this year, four men came forward to accuse the ‘Usual Suspects’ director of sexually assaulting them in their teens.
In April 2014, Michael Egan accused him of raping him in 1999 when he was just 17, but the case was later dropped due to discrepancies in the alleged victim’s account of what had happened.
Singer has always denied the allegations against him.
Bryan Singer to pay 150k to rape accuser
