10 Movie Scenes That Led To Massive Lawsuits
8. Bryan Singer's Questionable Gas Chamber Shower - Apt Pupil
Bryan Singer's 1998 psychological thriller Apt Pupil features a sequence where 16-year-old high school student Todd Bowden (Brad Renfro) imagines his showering classmates as Jewish prisoners in the gas chamber of a concentration camp.
Two weeks after the scene was filmed in California's Eliot Middle School, a 14-year-old extra filed a lawsuit claiming he was told to strip naked for the scene and refused to do so. Later, two other boys aged 16 and 17 made similar claims, one complying with the request and the other not.
All three boys claimed the experience traumatised them and filed for damages against the filmmakers on the grounds of emotional distress, negligence, and invasion of privacy.
Despite considerable press fervor, no charges were pressed due to insufficient evidence, and Singer ended up re-shooting the scene with adult actors to ensure the film was completed on schedule.
In the two-plus decades since the film's release, however, numerous additional, unrelated suits have been filed against Singer citing sexual abuse, and earlier this year, a damning article was published in The Atlantic alleging a history of predatory sexual behaviour on Singer's part.
As of yet, Singer has never been convicted of a sexual crime, though it's looking increasingly likely that his career as a major Hollywood filmmaker is effectively over.