Bryan Singer Paying Out $150K To Sexual Assault Accuser In Bankruptcy Case Settlement
Much-accused director Bryan Singer is settling a nearly two-year old rape case involving a minor with a hefty payout, but strict insistence on his innocence.
In a deal struck in recent days, the multiple X-Men flick helmer will hand over $150,000 to Cesar Sanchez-Guzman’s bankruptcy trustee to see the sexual abuse claim disappear.
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“The debtor filed a claim against Mr. Singer that he had no basis or legal right to file,” proclaimed Singer’s lawyer Andrew Brettler in a statement today after the agreement over the Washington State 2017 matter was announced.
“Mr. Singer has denied even knowing this individual, let alone allegedly having interacted with him more than 15 years ago,” the attorney at Lavely & Singer, no relation, added. “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.”
Once the $150,000 agreement is approved by a Chapter 11 judge and paid out, the sexual assault and battery and sexual exploitation of children action will be dismissed with prejudice, which means it’s really over.
Having declared himself insolvent in 2014, Sanchez-Guzman took the increasingly controversial The Usual Suspects director to court up in the Evergreen State in December 2017.
The incident described in the filing occurred supposedly on a yacht party in 2003, when Singer invited the teen to a secluded back room and allegedly assaulted him. The gathering was hosted by technology investor Leslie Waters, “who frequently hosted parties for young gay males in the Seattle area,” the filing asserted. The age of consent in Washington state is 16-years old, which is likely why the first claim was for sexual assault.
Coming just days after the director was canned from the almost-completed Bohemian Rhapsody, Singer denied the charges and the case made its way slowly through the response and motions process, during which various other claims and tales surfaced involving different accusers and different jurisdictions.
At the same time, Sanchez-Guzman’s discharged bankruptcy case was reopened because the Singer matter was viewed as an unreported potential asset for creditors. Now, with student loans getting the bulk of the dough, those very same creditors will received just over $61,000 of the settlement. The rest will go toward costs of the case, and Sanchez-Guzman probably will end up with maybe a little bit of cash at best.
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