SAG-AFTRA Slams ‘An Open Secret’ Hollywood Sex Doc for Innuendo

On the eve of its limited U.S. release, Amy Berg’s Hollywood sex abuse documentary An Open Secret has run into more credibility bumps. Three weeks ago, The Hollywood Reporter disclosed that the film had dropped all references to withdrawn 2014 sex abuse lawsuits in the wake of revelations that a key character relied on in the film, Michael Egan, had pled guilty after being indicted on federal fraud charges.

Now THR has learned that Berg’s film identifies an alleged wrongdoer and talent manager with a subtitle reflecting that he previously sat on the union’s Young Performers Committee despite the union’s repeated protest that this inaccurately suggests that SAG-AFTRA bears responsibility for the alleged conduct.

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“Whatever allegations may have been leveled against [the talent manager] have absolutely nothing whatsoever to do with SAG-AFTRA or any of its committees,” wrote one of the union’s outside counsel. “However, … this chyron is clearly meant to suggest otherwise.”

In response, Berg through her representatives declined to delete confusing references to SAG-AFTRA and, according to the union’s outside counsel, she has repeatedly attempted to drag the union into her publicity campaign for the film by telling reporters to call SAG-AFTRA.

The union repeatedly urged Berg to take her allegations to law enforcement, but a union source said that LAPD has no record of her having done so.

Meanwhile, as events regarding Egan overtook her, Berg reedited the film and excised all references to Egan’s 2014 suits against director Bryan Singer and entertainment executives Garth Ancier, David Neuman and Gary Goddard. Egan later dropped those cases, and Ancier and Neuman filed still-ongoing suits of their own against Egan and his attorneys for malicious prosecution. Egan was scolded by a federal judge for lying in court and later was indicted for fraud in an unrelated five-year scheme in which the FBI said he lied and forged documents. He pled guilty in April to a reduced charge.

Egan still appears in Berg’s film, in connection with allegations against other individuals dating to the late 1990s. Meanwhile, the talent manager has not been charged with any crime.

Berg and her representatives did not immediately respond to a request for comment. The film opens this weekend in limited release at nine theaters in Denver and Seattle before moving on to a New York house the following week.

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