BRYAN SINGER REPLIES TO TEEN SEX-ABUSE CHARGES

Calling the accusation of child abuse against him “outrageous, vicious and completely false,” writer-director Bryan Singer on Thursday issued a statement on Thursday saying that he is removing himself from media events that had been planned to promote his upcoming X-Men: Days of Future Past. Responding for the first time to charges filed against him last week by former child model Michael Egan, now 31, that Singer molested him while he was a teenager, Singer said that he did not want Egan’s “fictitious claims to divert any attention from the movie.” He continued: “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.” The latest installment of the X-Men franchise, starring Patrick Stewart, Jennifer Lawrence and Hugh Jackman, is scheduled to open in the U.S. on May 23.