Edge's News: Halle Berry To Director of X-Men 2 Bryan Singer "kiss my Black ass"

Alan Cumming has claimed Halle Berry told director Bryan Singer to 'kiss my Black a**' as the cast held an intervention for the disgraced filmmaker on the set of X2: X-Men United.

In his upcoming memoir Tales From a Fully Packed Life, Cumming, who starred opposite Berry in the 2003 sci-fi flick, recalled the actress telling the director off after the cast confronted Singer amid concerns for his health and their personal safety, according to Page Six.

Cumming, 56, alleged he and co-stars Berry, Patrick Stewart, Hugh Jackman, James Marsden and Famke Janssen were in costume and makeup when they confronted Singer in his trailer.

Fellow X2 stars Ian McKellen and Rebecca Romijn were not filming that day.

Cumming claimed in his book that Singer 'has himself admitted he was using painkillers at the time' and displayed concerning behaviour such as mood swings, tantrums, paranoia, and vanishing from the set for several hours at a time.

The behaviour prompted the cast to confront Singer in his trailer, where Cumming recounted Berry speaking 'movingly of people she had known with drug issues.' The Good Wife vet also recalled sharing how the cast had become concerned about their well-being on the X2 set.

Bryan Singer

Cumming recalled there being a pause in the trailer before Singer responded. 'You people … are full of f–king s–t!' he allegedly said before he began criticising the cast. Cumming claims that the director told them 'none of us had ever made a decent film' and that they 'were lucky to be working with him.'

'I've heard enough,' Berry allegedly said as she left the trailer. 'You can kiss my black a**.'

According to Cumming, production was put on hold and phone calls were made between lawyers and the studio. The displeased cast were ultimately instructed to hunker down and 'muddle through' the remainder of the shoot. The alleged incident was recounted in a 2020 Hollywood Reporter story, however a representative for the director said 'nothing like that ever happened'.

'Bryan's not the easiest dude to work with,' Berry previously told Variety. 'I mean, everybody's heard the stories - I don't have to repeat them - and heard of his challenges, and what he struggles with.'

'I would sometimes be very angry with him,' she added. 'I got into a few fights with him, said a few cuss words out of sheer frustration. When I work, I'm serious about that. And when that gets compromised, I get a little nutty.' 'But at the same time, I have a lot of compassion for people who are struggling with whatever they're struggling with, and Bryan struggles.'

Variety contacted Singer via his publicist regarding Berry's comments who declined to comment.

'Sometimes, because of whatever he’s struggling with, he just didn't always feel present,' Berry continued. 'He didn't feel there. And we're outside in our little X-Men stage freezing our ass off in Banff, Canada, with subzero weather and he's not focusing. And we're freezing. You might get a little mad.'

Meanwhile, Singer has been hit by a number of sexual assault allegations over the last few decades. 

The filmmaker, who has been directing films for more than three decades, including X-Men, Superman Returns and Valkyrie, has been trailed by allegations, court cases, documentaries and rumours by a number of boys and men who have claimed that he sexually assaulted them as minors in incidents dating back to 1997. 

Singer, who is bisexual and has a son with actress Michelle Clunie, has denied all of the allegations, some of which have been retracted in court and settled, saying the settlements cost less than going to court.

For nearly 25 years, the allegations of sexual misconduct have followed Singer, with multiple accusations from different men, some of them underage at the time, of incidents occurring between 1997 and 2006.

Several of the court cases, filed in 2014 and 2017, were later dismissed, withdrawn by the complainants or allegedly settled out of court.  Singer, who is bisexual and has a son with actress Michelle Clunie, has denied all of the allegations, some of which have been retracted in court and settled, saying the settlements cost less than going to court.

For nearly 25 years, the allegations of sexual misconduct have followed Singer, with multiple accusations from different men, some of them underage at the time, of incidents occurring between 1997 and 2006.

Several of the court cases, filed in 2014 and 2017, were later dismissed, withdrawn by the complainants or allegedly settled out of court.

But the arrival of the MeToo movement resurfaced the rumours, with Singer being fired from two high-profile director roles, of Queen biopic Bohemian Rhapsody in 2017 and Red Sonja in 2019.

In 2019 The Atlantic published an expose from four alleged victims who claimed he assaulted them when they were minors.