[Updated] Brian May Clarifies His Statement On Bryan Singer

*This piece has been updated to reflect Brian May’s latest comment on Bryan Singer*

Bohemian Rhapsody is meant to be a movie documenting the beginning of Queen’s long career. What it does is give us a half-baked look at the band’s interpretation of Freddie Mercury rather than an accurate telling of his life. As if the success of Bohemian Rhapsody wasn’t enough to rub fans the wrong way, it seemed as if Brian May was continuing to support Bryan Singer despite the 20+ years of sexual abuse allegations against him.

In an Instagram post, one user brought up the allegations to May, and his response was pretty disappointingly clear on where he stood with Singer.

Instead of taking into consideration a fan’s simple suggestion that he unfollow Bryan Singer, May supports Singer. We here at the Mary Sue have continually reported on the Singer allegations, making it clear that it wasn’t just one instance of allegations against him, and there are even more still coming out.

While Fox may be pretending that Singer didn’t work on the movie, he’s making sure we don’t forget that it is indeed his movie with a warped sense of who Freddie Mercury that we’re seeing, and Brian May seemed too invested in that to give these allegations the consideration they deserve.

Kayleigh Donaldson, a features writer for Screenrant, pointed out that the movie continues to perpetuate the band’s version of Freddie Mercury and not the actual story we should have been getting in the first place:

So, where does this leave Bohemian Rhapsody? The movie is currently nominated for Best Picture at the Oscars. As Vulture points out, the movie is very strategic in who they broach the topic of their director: They just don’t bring Singer up.

Since the original post, Brian May has made a statement regarding his original stance on Bryan Singer.

Look, I saw the movie. I love Queen. I thought that it had one great element to it: Rami Malek. Other than that, it wasn’t anything special enough to even be nominated for Best Picture. Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse was a much better movie, well constructed, and didn’t tear down the name of Freddie Mercury in the process. Nor did it have a sequence at the end of the movie where Freddie Mercury finds out he has AIDS the day of the Live Aid concert (which is untrue), falls in love, reconnects with his family, performs at Live Aid, and then, subsequently, saves Africa, all in one day.

It’s not a great movie, Bryan Singer is a terrible human being, but at least Brian May is making it clear that he wasn’t supporting Singer with his statement.

(image: Kevin Winter/Getty Images)

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Rachel Leishman

Rachel Leishman (She/Her) is an Assistant Editor at the Mary Sue. She's been a writer professionally since 2016 but was always obsessed with movies and television and writing about them growing up. A lover of Spider-Man and Wanda Maximoff's biggest defender, she has interests in all things nerdy and a cat named Benjamin Wyatt the cat. If you want to talk classic rock music or all things Harrison Ford, she's your girl but her interests span far and wide. Yes, she knows she looks like Florence Pugh. She has multiple podcasts, normally has opinions on any bit of pop culture, and can tell you can actors entire filmography off the top of her head. Her current obsession is Glen Powell's dog, Brisket. Her work at the Mary Sue often includes Star Wars, Marvel, DC, movie reviews, and interviews.

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