One of three executives named in a sex abuse lawsuit involving the director of the X-Men films has been dropped from the case, according to news reports.
Michael Egan III, who sued director Bryan Singer and three Hollywood executives alleging teen sex abuse in Hawaii in 1999, has voluntarily dismissed his suit against one of the men, former Disney executive David Neuman, it was reported on June 5.
Egan’s case against Neuman appeared to crumble three weeks ago when Neuman filed a motion to dismiss that attached a 2003 declaration in which Egan said he’d “never had any kind of physical contact” with Neuman other than non-sexual social contact and that Neuman “never acted improperly,” The Hollywood Reporter reported.
A sanctions motion served by Neuman’s counsel may have underscored the apparent defects in the suit.
“This evening the completely unfounded and 100 percent false charges against our client David A. Neuman, were dismissed,” the newspaper quoted Neuman’s lawyer, Patricia Glaser, as saying. “Today’s news affirms to everyone that David Neuman’s fine reputation deserves to stand strong and was attacked with no merit.”
She added: “Today’s dismissal exposes this despicable lawsuit for what it really was: an unethical smearing and failed shakedown of a completely innocent man.”
The suits against entertainment executives Gary Goddard, Garth Ancier and Bryan Singer, a director of X-Men films, remain pending. However, the dismissal of the case against Neuman seems an implicit acknowledgement of a cloud on Egan’s credibility, according to the Reporter.
