Bryan Singer The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug Arrivals - P 2014
Matt Sayles/Invision/APDirector Bryan Singer filed a motion Thursday to dismiss a teen sex abuse case in Los Angeles, asserting that there was no legal basis for the suit and that it improperly was brought anonymously by a British actor identified only as “John Doe 117.” In addition, he filed a motion demanding that the actor file a $300,000 bond to cover Singer’s anticipated litigation costs, which the motion said were likely to be “exorbitant.”
The Doe suit was filed in May by attorney Jeffrey Herman, who previously filed suits in Hawaii on behalf of Michael Egan III, against Singer and three others. One of those defendants, Gary Goddard, also is a defendant in the Doe suit. He filed a motion to dismiss the Doe suit last month.
A hearing on the motions is set for Aug. 18.
Still pending in Hawaii is Egan’s suit against Singer, which was filed in April amid white-hot publicity. Egan subsequently withdrew the other three suits after motions filed by the various defendants raised questions as to whether Egan or the defendants were ever actually in Hawaii as alleged. However, Egan has filed four suits in Los Angeles against anonymous defendants, and the allegations in those suits parallel some of the allegations in the four Hawaii suits.
Singer, Goddard and the other two defendants in the Egan suits, Garth Ancier and David Neuman, all have denied the allegations in the various suits. Last month, Ancier sued Egan, Herman and Hawaii attorney Michael Gallagher for malicious prosecution and abuse of process.
Herman did not respond to a request for comment.
Email: jh@jhandel.com
Twitter: @jhandel
