BAFTAs Take Back Bryan Singer's Director Nomination

Bohemian Rhapsody is nominated for several BAFTA awards, which are like the British version of the Oscars. One of those nominations was for director Bryan Singer, but in the wake of multiple sexual misconduct accusations against the filmmaker, the BAFTAs have decided to rescind his nomination. This is the latest bit of controversy surrounding the Freddie Mercury biopic, which has had to move through awards season dodging questions about Singer and his behavior.

This is a step in the right direction, but honestly, Singer shouldn't have been nominated to begin with. Even if you want to ignore the multiple allegations against him, and you also want to ignore that Bohemian Rhapsody is, well, kind of bad, the fact of the matter is that Singer was fired from the film. He didn't even complete shooting it – Dexter Fletcher was brought in to get the job done. With that in mind, why would you even think about nominating Bryan Singer for an award?

But that's what happened. Thankfully, the British Academy of Film and Television Arts has now officially removed Singer's name from Bohemian Rhapsody's Best British Film nomination. The decision comes in the wake of new sexual misconduct allegations levied against the filmmaker – the type of allegations that have followed Singer around for a large part of his career. The latest surfaced in a disturbing, detailed piece for The Atlantic.

"In light of recent very serious allegations, BAFTA has informed Bryan Singer that his nomination for Bohemian Rhapsody has been suspended, effective immediately," BAFTA said, adding:

"BAFTA considers the alleged behaviour completely unacceptable and incompatible with its values. This has led to Mr Singer's suspended nomination. BAFTA notes Mr Singer's denial of the allegations. The suspension of his nomination will therefore remain in place until the outcome of the allegations has been resolved."

Despite mixed reviews, Bohemian Rhapsody has proved to be a box office smash, and has also had a surprisingly robust awards season run. The Freddie Mercury biopic picked up five Oscar nominations, including Best Picture and Best Actor for Rami Malek. Malek has spent a large chunk of awards season dancing around the Singer issue. "I didn't know much about Bryan," Malek said. "I think that the allegations and things were, believe it or not, honestly something I was not aware of, and that is what it is." After that statement raised a few eyebrows, Malek further clarified: "My situation with Bryan, it was not pleasant, not at all. And that's about what I can say about it at this point."

The actor also added:

"My heart goes out to anyone who has to live through anything like what I've heard and what is out there. It's awful, it's remarkable that this happens, I can appreciate so much what they've been through and how difficult this must be for them. In the light of the #MeToo era, that this somehow seems to exist after that, it's a horrible thing."

Singer has denied all allegations against him.