Golden Globes: ‘Bohemian Rhapsody’ Director Bryan Singer Not Mentioned in Best Film Speech

Bohemian Rhapsody took home the coveted best drama motion picture award at the 2019 Golden Globes. Producer Graham King accepted the award on behalf of the movie’s cast and crew at the annual awards ceremony, held Sunday night at Beverly Hills’ Beverly Hilton.

“That was unexpected. Thank you so much to the Hollywood Foreign Press Association. That’s amazing,” King began, moments after Rami Malek nabbed the award for best actor in a drama motion picture for his portrayal of Queen frontman Freddie Mercury in the film.

“The power of movies is that it brings us all together. Freddie Mercury and Queen did that so successfully through their music, and that’s what we always want to accomplish in the cinemas,” continued King, after beating fellow contenders BlacKkKlansman, A Star Is Born, Black Panther and If Beale Street Could Talk. “To see that magic come alive and to see the incredible response to this film has been truly humbling for everyone. I want to thank everyone.”

King went on to note Malek’s “unbelievable performance” and ended his oration by thanking the late Mercury himself. “Thank you for showing us the power of embracing your true self,” he said. “This one is for you.”

King noticeably did not mention Bryan Singer’s name. In December 2017, Bohemian Rhapsody‘s former director — who seemingly did not attend this year’s Globes — was accused of rape by Cesar Sanchez-Guzman, who claimed Singer forced him to engage in oral and anal sex while aboard a yacht in Seattle in 2003. Sanchez-Guzman said he was 17 at the time. Singer has denied his allegations.

In 2014, former child actor Michael Egan claimed in a lawsuit that Singer raped him and forced him to ingest cocaine at a 1999 party in Los Angeles, where alcohol and firearms were also present. Singer denied the accusations and Egan later withdrew his suit.

The same week Sanchez-Guzman’s accusations made headlines, Singer was fired from Bohemian Rhapsody for behavior he exhibited on set. “Bryan Singer is no longer the director of Bohemian Rhapsody,” 20th Century Fox in a statement at the time, citing the “unexpected unavailability” of the helmer.

Denying he acted unprofessionally — along with reports that he feuded with Malek on set — Singer claimed the studio refused to allow him to tend to a “gravely ill parent.”

“I wanted nothing more than to be able to finish this project and help honor the legacy of Freddie Mercury and Queen,” he said in a statement, “but Fox would not permit me to do so because I needed to temporarily put my health, and the health of my loved ones, first.”

Singer added, “Rumors that my unexpected departure from the film was sparked by a dispute I had with Rami Malek are not true. While, at times, we did have creative differences on set, Rami and I successfully put those differences behind us and continued to work on the film together until just prior to Thanksgiving.”

Dexter Fletcher (Eddie the Eagle) eventually replaced Singer, but Singer has maintained his directing credit on the Queen biopic.

Singer later took to Instagram to thank the HFPA for the win, sharing a photo from the set of the film. A handful of notable names in Hollywood slammed the organization for awarding an accused pedophile by giving the Globe to Bohemian Rhapsody. Evan Rachel Wood, Rose McGowan and Jensen Karp, among others, spoke out against Singer and his film’s victory on Sunday night.

“So we just..we are all still supposed to be pretending we dont know about Bryan Singer?” Wood tweeted. “Cause it worked out really well with #Spacey and #Weinstein.”

Added McGowan: “Way to go Hollywood and Golden Globes. Awarding a super predator who preys on young boys. You know who you are, they know who you are and still they reward. You’re rotten to the core.”

Drop the Mic producer Jensen Karp reminded viewers that “mentioned or not, Bryan Singer gets one of those trophies, just in case you thought Hollywood was cured in 2019.”

Jan. 7, 9:53 a.m. Updated with social media responses from Evan Rachel Wood, Rose McGowan and Jensen Karp.