HONOLULU (AP) — A lawyer for "X-Men" franchise director Bryan Singer said Friday that credit card receipts, telephone records and production schedules from the first movie in the comic book series show that Singer wasn't in Hawaii when a lawsuit claims he sexually abused a 17-year-old on the islands.
!Singer's lawyer, Marty Singer, told The Associated Press that the director was mainly in Toronto working on his first major studio film from August through October 1999, and never in Hawaii during that span. A lawsuit filed by a former child model, Michael Egan III, says Singer abused him several times over those three months as well as earlier in California as part of a Hollywood sex ring led by another man convicted of trafficking minors for sex.
"This was Bryan's first studio film," Marty Singer said. "Clearly, he's not going to take a break in the middle of this movie while you're shooting and prepping it to go to Hawaii."
Egan's lawyer, Jeff Herman, did not immediately respond to phone calls seeking comment.
Egan told reporters at a news conference Thursday that he was abused by Singer and others starting whe! n he was 15. He said he was given drugs and promises of a Holl! ywood career while also being threatened and sexually abused in Los Angeles and Hawaii.
The Associated Press does not typically name victims of sex abuse but is naming Egan because he is speaking publicly about his allegations.
Marty Singer declined to provide documentation of Singer's credit card and telephone records, saying they were private, and said the film schedules were publicly available.
A spokesman for the studio, 20th Century Fox, did not immediately return a phone call and email seeking comment.
"X-Men," which starred Patrick Stewart, Hugh Jackman, Halle Berry and others, was released in July 2000. Singer is the director of "X-Men: Days of Future Past" to be released next month and has directed other films, including the thriller "The Usual Suspects."
The lawsuit was filed under a Hawaii law that temporarily suspends the statute of limitations in sex abuse cases. The law has led to several lawsuits in the state against clergy members and others, filed by people claiming they were abused years ago.
A judge in Hawaii scheduled a July 21 scheduling hearing in Honolulu for the lawsuit, which was filed Wednesday.
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Associated Press writer Antho! ny McCartney contributed to this report from Los Angeles. Oskar Garcia can be reached on Twitter at http://twitter.com/oskargarcia
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Source : http://news.yahoo.com/lawyer-x-men-director-not-hawaii-mid-1999-203533016.html
