Following new allegations of sex abuse toward Bryan Singer, Queen’s Brian May briefly appeared to defend the director, who was fired from the Freddie Mercury biopic Bohemian Rhapsody. Responding to a comment on his Instagram on Wednesday from someone asking that he unfollow Singer, May wrote, “You need to look after your own business and stop telling me what to do. And you need to learn to respect the fact that a man or woman is innocent until proven guilty.†May has since issued an apology and clarification on his Instagram, saying that he did not mean for his words to suggest that he defended Singer and that following the director on Instagram was not a sign of his approval.
“I had no idea that saying someone was innocent until proven guilty could be interpreted as ‘defending’ Bryan Singer. I had absolutely no intention of doing that,†May wrote. “The only reason I followed Bryan Singer was that we were working with him on a project. That situation came to an end when Mr Singer was removed during the shooting of the film, but I suppose unfollowing him never occurred to me as a necessity.â€
May says he has now unfollowed Singer, but did not comment further on the allegations. Rami Malek, who starred in the film as Freddie Mercury and was reportedly the catalyst for Singer’s firing after the two fought on set, recently said that he was unaware of the allegations against Singer prior to signing on to the film. It’s unclear if the surviving Queen members, who produced the film, were also unaware.