Bryan Singer, the director of the upcoming X-Men film, is calling a lawsuit accusing him of raping an aspiring model and actor a “twisted” shakedown.

Singer wrote in a statement released on Thursday that he is avoiding promotional events for his upcoming film X-Men: Days for Future Past, starring Australian Hugh Jackman, to avoid distracting from the movie.

His statement comes a week after he was sued by Michael Egan III in Hawaii in a case accusing the director of sexually abusing Egan in that state in 1999 when he was 17 years old.

Singer’s lawyer has denied the director was in Hawaii when the alleged abuse occurred.

The director’s statement says he expects the allegations will be revealed to be a “sick, twisted shakedown.”

An email sent to Egan’s lawyer Jeff Herman was not immediately returned.

According to the LA Times, the ‘allegations have caused anxiety in Hollywood that others might be named in civil lawsuits.’

Agents, scouts, producers, directors and other entertainment executives are those who have may have involved in past assaults, Harman told the newspaper.

“They’re everywhere,” Herman said. “From what I’m hearing from victims, this runs very, very deep and that there have been many predators in Hollywood for years who have sexually exploited kids.”

– with AAP