X-Men director Bryan Singer accused of 'emotional abuse' by ex-assistant and former partner Blake Stuerman

Bryan Singer, known for directing blockbusters including X-Men, Superman Returns, and The Usual Suspects, has been accused of mental and emotional abuse by Blake Stuerman, his former assistant and romantic partner. The 30-year-old former assistant has opened up about his four-year-long abusive relationship in a first-person account for Variety and has shared details of how he entered into a sexual relationship with the director in 2009 when Stuerman was 18 years old and Singer was 43 years. According to Stuerman, the two met in New York through a mutual friend and Singer began inviting him to plenty of dinners where he kept displaying his wealthy lifestyle through lavish food and hotel rooms. Later on, one night, the duo ended up alone in the director’s room. Stuerman recalled the incident and said, “I was newly 18, alone in a hotel suite with a rich and famous man who was giving me his full attention, and I was intoxicated for the first time in my life”. The next day, Singer convinced Stuerman that he had the potential to build a brilliant acting career and invited him to fly with him to Los Angeles. Stuerman thought that The Usual Suspects director was mentoring him, adding that he was hooked to the promise of working in films. As he accepted Singer’s encouragement, the former assistant said that he went deeper into an abusive relationship. Stuerman later found out that Singer had a reputation for liking “young-looking men”, as per his account. He also witnessed Singer assaulting someone in 2012. During one night at a party, Singer violently attacked a guest and later on told Stuerman that he would kill him if he ever left the director. That day, the assistant realized that he was trapped with a violent man. Stuerman was abused, shouted at and controlled by the X-Men director in all aspects of his life, as per Variety. By the time Stuerman was working on X-Men: Days of Future Past in 2013, he said that he experienced trigger panic attacks due to the abusive situation he was in. One day, when he could take it no more, he yelled at Singer, saying he was an alcoholic. As things worsened between the two, during the production of the superhero drama, Stuerman accidentally overslept one day and was then asked to leave the set. According to him, his credit cards were frozen and he was given two hours to get back to Los Angeles. Stuerman suffered severe depression, post-traumatic stress, and anxiety for two years, as per the account. He has said that it took years of therapy for him to stop blaming himself and defending the singer for everything that happened during their relationship. Singer’s lawyer Andrew Brettler responded to the four-page letter of Stuerman by saying that the allegations were “uncorroborated, inflammatory and highly defamatory”. However, Brettler has not commented on the allegations that Singer assaulted someone while Stuerman was a witness to the incident. Brettler has also posted on comments, or disputed the allegations, that the Valkyrie director had sex with Stuerman from when he was 18. This is not the first time that Bryan Singer has been in controversy. He was accused of misconduct involving minors in the year 1997 and also accused of raping a minor in a civil lawsuit in 2014, which was later withdrawn. The X: Men director has faced multiple lawsuits on accusations of raping minors, some of which were settled out of court. As per Variety, Blake Stuerman has provided extensive documentation to substantiate his personal account. He has shown photographs and sexual messages between him and Singer. Stuerman has also provided Variety with a text message which authenticates Singer assaulting someone at a party.