Bohemian Rhapsody’s Golden Globes win for Best Picture was a stunning upset, but as the movie’s stars and producers took the stage to claim their prize, there was a much bigger elephant in the room: sacked director, Bryan Singer.
Despite being completely left out of the celebrations at the Hollywood awards night, Singer, 53, still went out of his way to thank the Hollywood Foreign Press Association for delivering the movie two coveted statues.
The controversial director, who was fired from Bohemian Rhapsody with just two weeks left, didn’t get mentioned when the cast and producers accepted the Best Motion Picture – Drama award at Sunday’s Golden Globes. The film’s star Rami Malek, who played Freddie Mercury, didn’t thank him, either.
Singer, who is still credited as the film’s director due to Directors Guild of America rules, shared a photo of himself in his director’s seat on the set along with Malek and Ben Hardy, who played Roger Taylor. “What an honor,” he wrote. “Thank you #HollywoodForeignPress.”
https://www.instagram.com/p/BsUtnmCn68A
The director was fired from the Freddie Mercury biopic in December 2017 a couple of weeks before filming wrapped, amid rumoured tension with Malek, 37, and other members of the cast. The unexpected sacking caused production to temporarily shut down before British director Dexter Fletcher stepped in to finish the job. Shortly afterwards, Singer was sued in a civil action over an accusation that he raped a 17-year-old boy. He has firmly denied the claim and no criminal charges have been laid.
He may have been left at home the night of the Golden Globes, but it was hardly a case of “out of sight, out of mind”. In fact, Singer is still billed as the movie’s sole director, thanks to union rules. With other high-profile scalps already taken in the #TimesUp era, many — including Westworld actress Evan Rachel Wood — were left wondering why Singer seemed to be exempt.
https://twitter.com/evanrachelwood/status/1082190110425108480
https://twitter.com/JensenClan88/status/1082132857319870464
Talking big Hollywood change talk and then giving the Bryan Singer film top honors is too on the nose.
— Craig Bro Dude (@CraigSJ) January 7, 2019
Whether or not Singer’s career will remain affected in the long-term remains to be seen, but it’s already been reported that he’s in talks to direct a Red Sonja adaptation. Whatever the case, his post will most assuredly do little to help the public perception of him held by many.
