Garth Ancier was a defendant in a sexual assault lawsuit filed by Michael Egan, who also targeted X-Men director Bryan Singer. Egan dropped his suit against Ancier this week, and now Ancier is countersuing him for malicious prosecution.
Michael Egan (center) and his attorney, Jeff Herman (right)
The Associated Press
Garth Ancier, the former president of NBC, sued Michael Egan today for malicious prosecution. The suit also targets Egan's attorneys, Jeff Herman and Michael Gallagher.
Egan had accused Ancier in April of sexually assaulting him when he was underage. Egan also sued X-Men director Bryan Singer and Hollywood executives David Neuman and Gary Goddard for sexual assault.
Egan dropped his lawsuit against Ancier on Wednesday. He also dropped his case against Neuman earlier this month.
All the defendants in Egan's suits strenuously deny the allegations and have filed motions to have the suits dismissed. But Ancier's countersuit is the first official return volley. "As noted in the Complaint, the improper ulterior motive of the Defendants and the obvious lack of evidence supporting their claims render them liable for malicious prosecution and abuse of process," said Ancier's lawyer, Louise Ann Fernandez, in a statement.
Egan alleges that Ancier and others sexually assaulted him at the Los Angeles mansion of Marc Collins-Rector, CEO of early internet video streaming company Digital Entertainment Network, or DEN. However, he filed his lawsuit in Hawaii, alleging that abuse had also occurred on trips to the island.
In his civil complaint, Ancier alleges that Egan fabricated the allegations and filed the suit in Hawaii in order to bypass California's statute of limitations on sex abuse cases.
"Mike Egan maintains that he was sexually abused by Garth Ancier in both Hawaii and California," Herman, Egan's attorney, said in a statement. "This is nothing more than an attempt to silence victims."
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