Olivia Munn alleges Bryan Singer ‘checked out’ of X-Men set for 10 days and directed cast via text

Through a statement by his publicist, Singer denied Munn's claims that he left the set for an extended period

Olivia Munn has alleged that filmmaker Bryan Singer was “gone” from the set of X-Men: Apocalypse for 10 days and directed his cast and crew via text.

The actor, who portrayed villainous mutant Psylocke in the 2016 film, said that her experience with Singer showed her how often men in Hollywood “fail upward” and “get away with bad behaviour”.

Speaking to Variety, Munn claimed that Singer vanished from the set due to an apparent “thyroid issue”.

“I [had] never shot a huge movie like that before,” she said. “I didn’t know what was right or wrong, but I did know that it seems strange that Bryan Singer could check out and say he had a thyroid issue.”

She continued: “Instead of going to a doctor in Montreal [where the film was shot], which is a very high-level, working city, he said he had to go to LA. And he was gone for about 10 days is my recollection. And he said, ‘Continue. Keep filming.’

“We’d be on set, I remember there’s a big scene that we’d have, and we’d come back from lunch and then one of Bryan’s assistants would come up and show us a cell phone with a text message on it. And he texted to the actors, ‘Hey guys. I’m busy right now. But just go ahead and start filming without me.’ And we’d be like, ‘OK.’

“I’m saying even before the #MeToo stuff was exposed — stuff that’s really horrendous and just nauseating to be around — there’s also just the bad behaviour of people getting away with it. And no one in the world is so talented that it merits disrespecting other people and their time. And there are so many talented people waiting for an opportunity.”

In a statement, Singer’s publicist denied Munn’s claims.

“He saw doctors in Montreal and then came back to see doctors in Los Angeles,” the publicist said. “And to the best of our recollection, it only affected two days of shooting.”

Singer, who came to fame as the director of The Usual Suspects (1995) and X-Men (2000), last directed the Queen biopic Bohemian Rhapsody (2018). He was fired from the film shortly before production culminated, with Dexter Fletcher stepping in to finish the movie.

Singer strenuously denied sexual misconduct allegations made against him in 2019, which saw Bafta “suspend” his inclusion as a producer for the Queen film’s Best Picture nomination. Singer claimed the allegations were a “homophobic smear”.