Queen guitarist Brian May has published an apology after defending Bohemian Rhapsody director Bryan Singer on Instagram. Appearing to defend the director in the comments of one post, May responded to one commenter that they “need to look after your own business and stop telling me what to do.” He also added, “And you need to learn to respect the fact that a man or woman is innocent until proven guilty.”
In light of recent allegations made against Singer, May has posted a public apology addressing the women he responded to in his original comment. “My response was a result of my perception that someone was telling me who to do,” he writes. “I now realize that I was completely wrong in thinking that. You were actually just trying to protect me, for which I thank you. I am mortified to discover the effect my words produced. I had no idea that saying someone was innocent until proven guilty could be proven as ‘defending’ Bryan Singer. I had absolutely no intention of doing that.” His apology continues:
“I guess I must be naive, because it also had never occurred to me that ‘following’ a person on Instagram could be interpreted as approving of that person. the only reason I followed Bryan Singer was that we were working with him on a project. That situation came ton an end when Mr. Singer was sacked during the shooting of the film, but I suppose unfollowing him never occurred to me as a necessity. Now, because of this misunderstanding, I have unfollowed. I’m so sorry. This must have caused you a lot of upset, I wish I could take the comment back, but all I can do is apologise, and hope that my apology will begin to make amends. Sadly, this is all very public, but since I snapped at you in public, it’s only fitting that I should apologise in public.”
May’s comments follow allegations against Singer including sex with minors and other misconduct from earlier this week. The director was sued in 2017 for allegedly raping a 17-year-old boy. Singer has since denied all allegations. Earlier tonight, Singer’s film Bohemian Rhapsody was pulled from the GLAAD Media Awards in response to the latest allegations. Singer is still set to direct the upcoming film Red Sonja amid this controversy, with the film’s producers calling the allegations “agenda driven fake news.” See May’s comments below.
In case you were wondering how the people who fought to let Bryan Singer direct Bohemian Rhapsody felt about The Atlantic story. pic.twitter.com/GDC6co5l5e
— Kayleigh Donaldson (@Ceilidhann) January 24, 2019
