Rami Malek Responds To Singer Report
Rami Malek was honored Friday at the Santa Barbara International Film Festival for his Oscar-nominated work in the Queen biopic “Bohemian Rhapsody”. The film has been making headlines again lately as allegations of a long history of sexual abuse tied to the film’s director Bryan Singer have emerged in the press.
Singer was famously fired from the production by studio 20th Century Fox several weeks out from the end of shooting, with Dexter Fletcher then coming in to replace him and finish off the movie. Ultimately though, Singer is the sole credited director on the movie.
Malek hasn’t commented much on the reports since they were published, only having previously said he was unaware of claims against Singer before taking on the film. However, speaking with
THR in a Q&A at the fest, he’s finally opened up a bit about the claims. Malek says:
“My heart goes out to anyone who has to live through anything like what I’ve heard and what is out there. It’s awful, it’s remarkable that this happens, I can appreciate so much what they’ve been through and how difficult this must be for them. In the light of the #MeToo era that this somehow seems to exist after that, it’s a horrible thing.
[I don’t] want anyone to not feel like they can share their story. I’ve sat here and talked about how everyone deserves a voice and anyone who wants to talk about what happened with Bryan deserves to have their voice heard. In my situation with Bryan, it was not pleasant, not at all. And that’s about what I can say about it at this point.”
Malek, who by then was reportedly visibly emotional whilst discussing this, added:
“For anyone who is seeking any solace in all of this, Bryan Singer was fired. Bryan Singer was fired, I don’t think that was something anyone saw coming but I think that had to happen and it did.”
Despite his firing, Singer is still allegedly in line to make $40 million from the Freddie Mercury biopic.