Rami Malek Thinks Freddie Mercury’s Ghost Protected Bohemian Rhapsody

Rami Malek had a very good reason for signing on to Bohemian Rhapsody despite Bryan Singer's reputation: Freddie Mercury's ghost made him do it! If I had a nickel for every time I've heard that excuse!

Earlier this week, The Atlantic posted a scathing takedown of Bryan Singer, featuring interviews with multiple men who claim the director had sex with or sexually assaulted them when they were underage. The industry's response seems split -- on the one hand, Bohemian Rhapsody was reportedly pulled from the GLAAD Media Awards list of nominees. On the other hand, Singer will keep his job directing the big screen adaptation of Red Sonja. The fact that Singer has not been unanimously cancelled likely stems from the fact that accusations and lawsuits have followed him for decades, with many of his supporters saying that this new expose is opportunistic (and, Singer says, homophobic).

So if Singer's behavior was such an open secret in Hollywood, with most of the industry -- if not the world at large -- aware Singer's rumored misconduct (and the lawsuits against him) for years, how was the star of his film not aware of them? In an interview with the LA Times on Tuesday, Malek claimed that he had no idea about the accusations leveled against Singer, which date back as far as 2014.

"As far as I knew, I was considered before Bryan was even attached. So I had my head down preparing for this for about a year ahead of time, and I never really looked up," Malek explained. "I didn't know much about Bryan. 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. Who knows what happens with that ... but I think somehow we found a way to persevere through everything that was thrown our way."

And Malek goes so far as to suggest that his negligence in looking into the director before signing on was due to some kind of supernatural intervention. "Perhaps that was Freddie himself doing it, because we wanted to make a product that was worthy of him."

Right, so let me get this straight: Freddie Mercury's ghost wanted a movie about his life (one that straight-washed his queerness away) made so badly that he protected Malek from finding out the director was an alleged pedophile and sexual abuser? Sure, Jan.

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