Bryan Singer’s name stripped from Bohemian Rhapsody Bafta Awards nomination over sexual misconduct allegations

Fired as director of the Queen biopic and subsequently accused of sexual misconduct, Singer’s role in the film saw it disqualified from recent GLAAD awards

Bohemian Rhapsody is nominated for seven Bafta awards, and has also earned five Oscar nominations

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Bryan Singer, who was fired as director of Bohemian Rhapsody and whose name has now been removed from the film’s nomination for outstanding picture in the Bafta Awards following allegations against him of sexual misconduct. Photo: AFP

Published: 11:58am, 7 Feb 2019Updated: 11:58am, 7 Feb 2019

The British Academy of Film and Television Arts has removed Bryan Singer’s name from the Bohemian Rhapsody nomination for outstanding British film due to “recent very serious allegations” of sexual misconduct against the director. The film itself will retain the nomination, as well as six others in craft and acting categories.

“Bafta considers the alleged behaviour completely unacceptable and incompatible with its values,” the academy wrote in a statement on Wednesday, four days before its award ceremony. “This has led to Mr Singer’s suspended nomination. Bafta notes Mr Singer’s denial of the allegations. The suspension of his nomination will therefore remain in place until the outcome of the allegations has been resolved.”

Bafta’s decision comes almost two weeks after GLAAD deemed the Queen biopic ineligible for its outstanding film category in response to the allegations against Singer that were published last month by The Atlantic. The roughly 9,000-word article detailed graphic accounts of four people who said Singer sexually assaulted them when they were underage.

Singer denied the allegations and responded at the time with a statement that called the article a “homophobic smear piece”, an assertion GLAAD, formerly known as the Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation, called out in announcing the film’s ineligibility.

Bohemian Rhapsody earned five Oscar nominations last month, including for best picture. Unlike Bafta, however, the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences gives its best picture award only to a film’s producer or producers – in this case, Graham King. King and screenwriter Anthony McCarten’s names remain on the Bafta nomination. Neither they, nor Singer, responded to a request for comment on the director’s suspension.

Gwilym Lee (left), Rami Malek (centre) and Joe Mazzello in a scene from Bohemian Rhapsody. Malek had said little about the allegations against the film’s director, Bryan Singer, until recently. Photo: Alex Bailey/Twentieth Century Fox/AP

The film’s rocky awards season follows a chaotic production process that began in 2010. Queen guitarist Brian May announced plans for the movie that year, and shooting was to begin in 2012 with comedian Sacha Baron Cohen as frontman Freddie Mercury. Cohen left the project in 2013 over creative differences, and British actor Ben Whishaw stepped in to replace him. He also left.