Two attorneys have issued apologies for filing “untrue and provably false” sex abuse allegations against veteran television executive Garth Ancier and former Walt Disney Television President David Neuman, it was reported today.
The apologies from attorneys Jeffrey Herman and Mark Gallagher came more than a year after former model Michael Egan filed lawsuits saying he was abused at estates in Encino and Hawaii by prominent entertainment industry executives including Ancier, Neuman, “X-Men” director Bryan Singer and Gary Goddard, the founder and CEO of an entertainment design firm based in North Hollywood, the Los Angeles Times reported.
Seeking at least $1 million in damages, Egan filed the lawsuits in April 2014. All four of the defendants or their representatives said that they were never in Hawaii with Egan. In June 2014, Ancier filed a complaint accusing Egan and his attorneys of malicious prosecution and abuse of process. That same month, Egan withdrew his sexual abuse lawsuit against Neuman.
In late 2014 Egan was indicted on securities and wire fraud in connection with an investment scheme, the FBI said, The Times reported. According to Ancier’s lawyer, Egan recently pleaded guilty in North Carolina federal court and is awaiting sentencing.
Herman and Gallagher’s apology letters were accompanied by an undisclosed seven-figure settlement, according to The Times.
“As you know, I withdrew from representing Mr. Egan two months after filing the complaints,” Herman said in two separate letters, one to Ancier and one to Neuman, The Times reported. “Based on what I know now, I believe that I participated in making what I now know to be untrue and provably false allegations against you. Had I known what I learned after filing the lawsuits, I would never have filed these claims against you.”
“Gallagher echoed the apology in his letters, stating he “deeply regret[s] the unjustified pain, suffering and significant damage the lawsuit and publicity has caused.”
Ancier said in a statement quoted by The Times that he is “pleased” with the apology.
