‘X-Men’ director Bryan Singer asks judge to dismiss sexual abuse suit

Bryan Singer, the director of “X-Men: Days of Future Past,” on Wednesday filed a motion to ask a judge to dismiss a lawsuit that accuses him of sexually abusing a teenage boy in the late 1990s.

In the suit, filed last month in Hawaii, Michael Egan, now 31, accuses Singer of abusing him during trips to that state and in Encino. Singer’s motion asks the Hawaii federal court to dismiss the case based on a lack of jurisdiction.

The motion cites Egan’s sworn deposition from an earlier case as evidence that Singer was not in Hawaii with Egan during the time of the alleged abuse and claims that Singer did not abuse him.

Singer’s motion relies on a 2003 deposition given by Egan in relation to a suit that Egan and two coplaintiffs brought against Digital Entertainment Network and its three cofounders in 2000. That case, which did not name Singer, resulted in a $4.5-million judgment against the cofounders, Marc Collins-Rector, Chad Shackley and Brock Pierce.

In the deposition, Egan is asked whether he took trips with the defendants “outside the continental U.S.,” and Egan responds, “Never had any trips outside the continental U.S., no.” Egan is also asked if anyone other than the defendants was involved in the abuse, to which Egan responds, “There was other people that worked down in the DEN facilities, but partaking in all this stuff I don’t think so, no.”

Singer’s filing Wednesday follows a similar motion recently by attorneys for David Neuman, a former Walt Disney Television executive who is also accused of sexual abuse by Egan.

In a statement, Egan’s attorney Jeff Herman said: “I do have a response, but I am restricted in that I can only talk about what is in the court record. Many of the things being reported are being taken out of context or you’re only hearing one side of the story. At the appropriate time and in the appropriate venue, we will respond.”