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LA Times, BuzzFeed

Attorney for Accuser of Hollywood Executives Is Dropping His Client

Jul 30, 2014  •  Post A Comment

The man who accused a number of prominent Hollywood figures of sexual abuse is being dropped by his attorney. The Los Angeles Times reports that Florida attorney Jeff Herman said he’s dropping Michael Egan, who accused former Walt Disney Television President David Neuman, former NBC executive Garth Ancier, producer Gary Goddard and “X-Men” director Bryan Singer of sexual abuse.

“We are in the process of withdrawing from representing Mr. Egan in all his cases and have no further comment concerning his matters at this time,” Herman said in an emailed statement Tuesday.

Egan had accused Singer in April of abusing him in Hawaii in the late 1990s, and in separate complaints alleged abuse by Newman, Ancier and Goddard.

The story reports: “The allegations were the talk of Hollywood when Herman and Egan first filed the suits and held news conferences detailing what the complaints referred to as a ‘sordid sex ring,’ in which teenage boys were allegedly plied with drugs and alcohol and then coerced into having sex with older men.”

The report adds: “It is unclear how Egan will proceed now that he is losing his legal representation.”

Singer reportedly agreed in June to settle the case for $100,000, according to BuzzFeed. The document is said to be signed by Singer, his attorney and Herman, although Egan reportedly didn’t sign it, the story notes.

“This exact kind of take-it-and-shut-up deal is why I decided to stand up in the first place,” Egan told BuzzFeed. “Being silenced goes completely against what I believe in and offers no protection for other vulnerable children.”

Herman, in a motion to withdraw as Egan’s counsel, said the relationship between the pair had “deteriorated” recently.

Martin Singer, the attorney for Bryan Singer (no relation), told the Los Angeles Times that the director was in talks to settle. He said the relatively small settlement amount demonstrates a “lack of confidence” in the veracity of the allegations.

“This was a last-ditch attempt to save face from what was nothing more than an unsubstantiated, unsuccessful shakedown of Bryan Singer based on false allegations,” Martin Singer said through a representative, according to the Times.

bryan singer.pngBryan Singer

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