TV executive Garth Ancier has sued Michael Egan III and his attorneys for malicious prosecution over the recently dismissed sexual abuse lawsuit against Ancier.
In a filing Friday in federal court in Hawaii, Ancier is seeking a jury trial for damages on claims of malicious prosecution and abuse of process.
The suit named Egan, Jeff Herman and Michael F. Gallagher and alleged that the Egan suit was a “last minute” attempt to take advantage of Hawaii’s extended statute of limitations on sexual abuse allegations.
“The Action was brought to smear, harass and severely injure Mr. Ancier, as part of an avowed and very public campaign by Mr. Egan’s counsel to troll for new clients who would enable them to shake down other entertainment industry executives with threats of sexual assault charges,” Ancier’s suit said.
Herman responded to the suit by issuing a statement asserting that Egan maintains that he was sexually abused by Ancier. However, he did not disclose why Egan had withdrawn his abuse suit against Ancier on Wednesday.
“This is nothing more than an attempt to silence victims,” Herman added. “I will not be bullied and I will continue to fight for victims of sexual abuse even when it happens in Hollywood.”
Egan had filed the Ancier suit and similar actions in April against “X-Men: Days of Future Past” director Bryan Singer, theme parks exec Gary Goddard and TV exec David Neuman. The suits alleged that all four committed the abuse between August 1999 and October 1999 in Hawaii when Egan was 16.
Ancier said in the new suit that the damage from Egan’s suit was “considerable.”
“In addition to being forced to spend hundreds of thousands of dollars in attorney’s fees and costs to defend against the Complaint’s false allegations, Mr. Ancier was subject to an onslaught of negative publicity, which is damaging to his hard-earned reputation that was caused and indeed fostered by Defendant’s institution and maintenance of the action,” Ancier said.
Ancier said in the dismissal motion that he was not in Hawaii during that period, has never been to Hawaii with Egan, and has never been to the Paul Mitchell estate where the alleged assaults took place. The motion also named three other witnesses, including Ancier’s personal assistant Renate Radford, who have testified that Ancier never traveled to Hawaii during that period.
Ancier and Singer have contended that the cases should be dismissed due to lack of jurisdiction and cited Egan’s deposition in a separate 2000 sex abuse lawsuit filed against three executives of the Digital Entertainment Network.
Egan made four claims in each suit — intentional infliction of emotional distress, assault, battery and invasion of privacy by unreasonable intrusion. Each of the suits recounts in explicit detail the sexual acts that allegedly took place between Egan and each of the men.
Herman’s entire statement follows: “Mike Egan maintains that he was sexually abused by Garth Ancier in both Hawaii and California. Prior to filing the case in Hawaii, Mike was examined by a psychologist who made findings that supports Mike’s claims. In addition, Mike passed a polygraph exam pertaining to his allegations. Independent witnesses will testify that Mike alleged in 2000 that he was sexually abused by Garth Ancier. This is nothing more than an attempt to silence victims. I will not be bullied and I will continue to fight for victims of sexual abuse even when it happens in Hollywood. It is easy to understand why victims are afraid to come forward against Hollywood power brokers without someone to protect them.”
