X-Men Movie Isn’t Tainted By Bryan Singer Allegations Says Producer

X-Men producer Ralph Winter claims that the movie is not tainted by the allegations of sexual abuse that have been leveled against Bryan Singer. Singer, who was the darling of Hollywood following his directing job on The Usual Suspects, which also made Kevin Spacey a star, was chosen to direct X-Men. The move turned out to be a massive success, and launched the multi-billion dollar franchise, as well as ushering in the era of blockbuster superhero films that continues unabated to this day.

However, Singer’s career has consistently been dogged by allegations of sexual abuse of young boys, as well as reports of terrible on-set behavior. Singer has denied all the accusations leveled at him. Despite the allegations dating back to the 1990s, Singer was able to work freely in Hollywood until recently, directing Superman Returns as well as X-Men: Days of Future Past and X-Men: Apocalypse. His alleged behavior finally caught up with him on the set of Bohemian Rhapsody, resulting in him being fired from the shoot. He did, however, retain the directing credit on the movie.

Now, Winter, speaking as part of a wide-ranging expose on Singer published by THR, says that the allegations leveled against Singer don’t taint the legacy of the first X-Men movie, which he was a producer on. Winter calls the movie one that will stand the “test of time” and add that, to him, the allegations “don’t matter.” He also says that he hopes Singer’s career “survives” the allegations in some way. You can read his full quote below.

“I think X-Men will stand the test of time. And hopefully Bryan will survive some way in his career and his work as a filmmaker and artist. But I don’t find the movie tainted in any way because of whatever all the other current events are about Bryan. To me, that stuff doesn’t matter.”

The expose details several allegations that Singer has faced throughout his career and shed new light on how difficult it reportedly is to work with him. Complaints include on-set tantrums and drug use, one instance of which caused the cast of X-Men 2 to threaten to walk-out on him if another producer was not kept around to monitor his behavior.

While Winter is clearly trying to defend the content of a film he produced, one which was rightly very successful, his comments do seem a little misguided. It’s fine to say that X-Men is a great movie in the superhero genre but to completely dismiss the allegations that have dogged Singer’s career goes too far. In particular, the sentiment that he hopes Singer’s career survives in some way.

If all of the allegations leveled against him are true, Singer most certainly does not belong on a movie set where he has access to young and vulnerable actors. Even if just the rumors of his bad on-set behavior are to be believed, including reports by both Brandon Routh and Sophie Turner that he is difficult to work with, he should not be hired again. Winter misses the point that you can still condemn Singer’s alleged actions while acknowledging that X-Men is a good film.