Report: Bryan Singer accuser had close ties with separate alleged attacker
The man accusing X-Men director Bryan Singer of raping him as a teenager was friends with another man who he claims sexually abused him at the time, reports suggest.
BuzzFeed has obtained email exchanges allegedly made between Michael Egan and digital entrepreneur Chad Shackley, whom Mr Egan accused along with Bryan Singer and other Hollywood executives of sexual abuse.
Mr Egan and Mr Shackley exchanged at least 62 emails between April 1999 and April 2000.
In a lawsuit filed in June of that year, Mr Egan alleged that Mr Shackley and others repeatedly raped him during the same period. Mr Egan was 16 and 17-years-old at the time.
The emails were obtained from an unnamed longterm associate of Mr Egan.
It raises contradictory questions about Mr Egan’s allegations in his latest lawsuit against Mr Singer and several other Hollywood figures.
The documents suggest that Mr Egan appeared willing to participate in parties at Mr Shackley’s California home – one of the places where Mr Egan now alleges he was abused by Mr Singer and several other men.
The correspondence shows Mr Egan asked repeatedly when he would be seeing Mr Shackley again and also requested a loan for a business venture. The two men even talked about moving in together.
Mr Egan’s lawyer, Jeff Herman, said on Tuesday that the emails backed up his client’s claims.
“The emails are consistent with compliant victims, especially those who have been abused through a period of time, who have been groomed and drugged and threatened,” Mr Herman said to BuzzFeed. “It’s hard for people to understand why victims keep coming back or seem willing to participate, but this is an example of the complexity of sexual assault.”
Mr Shackley has so far not commented about the revelations. Mr Singer and the other three defendants in Mr Egan’s lawsuits have strenuously denied the allegations.
Last week, Mr Singer filed a motion calling for the immediate dismissal of Mr Egan’s lawsuit.
