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"Bryan Singer is pulling out of future press events for X-Men: Days of Future Past so as not to distract from the \u201Cextraordinary contributions from the incredibly talented actors and crew involved,\u201D the embattled director said Thursday in a statement. In it, he also called sexual abuse allegations against him \u201Coutrageous, vicious and completely false.\u201D\nIt was the first in-his-own-words reaction from Singer since Michael Egan, now 31, filed a lawsuit in a Hawaii federal court alleging that the director drugged and raped him as a teen at parties in Los Angeles and Hawaii.\nSEE ALSO: Bryan Singer Accuser Names 3 More, Alleges Widespread 'Hollywood Sex Ring'\nSinger's statement, in its entirety:\nThe allegations against me are outrageous, vicious and completely false. I do not want these fictitious claims to divert ANY attention from X-Men: Days of Future Past. This fantastic film is a labor of love and one of the greatest experiences of my career. So, out of respect to all of the extraordinary contributions from the incredibly talented actors and crew involved, I\u2019ve decided not to participate in the upcoming media events for the film. However, I promise when this situation is over, the facts will show this to be the sick twisted shake down it is. I want to thank fans, friends and family for all their amazing and overwhelming support.\nEgan raised a fresh round of allegations Monday against a trio of entertainment executives in what his lawyer described as a \u201CHollywood sex ring.\u201D They are former Fox entertainment group head Garth Ancier; former Disney TV chief David Neuman; and Gary Goddard, who produces off-Broadway stage shows and owns a firm that designs theme park attractions.\nWhile Ancier\u2019s lawyer denied the allegations and Neuman took to Twitter in his own defense, Goddard was traveling in China at the time and was unable to respond in full on Monday. Goddard\u2019s lawyer, Alan Grodin, provided Mashable with this statement late Wednesday:\nHaving had the opportunity to review the allegations in the Complaint filed against our client, Mr. Gary Goddard, we can say that the allegations against him are categorically denied.\u00A0Mr. Goddard was not in Hawaii with Mr. Egan. He did not molest or touch or annoy Mr. Egan or commit any of the acts alleged. Also, he did not furnish drugs or alcohol to any minor at any time. We have also reviewed the complaints filed against other defendants by Mr. Egan. The \u201Ccookie-cutter\u201D allegations in all of the complaints filed by Mr. Egan are so fantastical as to be unbelievable on their face.\u00A0We have now learned that this is not the first time that allegations of this sort have been made by Mr. Egan. His suit filed in 2000 against other parties referenced in the complaints made no mention of any alleged trips to the state of Hawaii. Filing the complaints in Hawaii is a blatant attempt by Mr. Egan of forum shopping.\u00A0Our client Mr. Goddard intends to vigorously defend this suit, to uphold his good name and reputation. We are confident that the objective facts will demonstrate that the allegations against Mr. Goddard are false.\nEgan\u2019s lawyer, Jeff Herman, said during Egan's Monday press conference that more could be on the way.\nOn a separate note, Herman was one of the lawyers representing plaintiffs against Elmo puppeteer Kevin Clash, who was ultimately cleared Wednesday when an appeals court agreed with a lower judge\u2019s decision that allegations against him were filed too late."^^<http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#string>
<http://mashable.com/2014/04/24/bryan-singer-sex-abuse-allegations-denial/>