To scout for attractive young men to attend his parties, Singer has relied on a network of friends, according to multiple sources. First among them is Wayne Castro (44 years old, according to public records), whose Twitter biography lists his professions as a “fashion photographer, producer, [and] event promoter.”
“He’s been friends with Bryan for years — very much a confidant,” said another friend of Singer’s, who added that he is one of the scouts who has connected Singer with young men the director might have wanted to meet.
Castro, according to the partygoing insider, is a regular presence at the 18-and-over gay club night called TigerHeat, which happens every Thursday night at the Hollywood club Avalon. There, Castro maintains a VIP list and produces the “Heaven Lounge” at the event, as well as house parties that happen either the same night or on subsequent nights. “He’s more like a personal assistant [to Singer], in a way,” said the partygoer. “He’s booking Bryan’s [private plane] flights and stuff like that.” (Castro has not responded to repeated messages, emails, and phone calls asking for comment for this story.)
According to the partygoer, another friend of Singer’s, aspiring writer Tommy Johnson, hosts regular parties at his apartment in a historic Hollywood building before the TigerHeat nights, and “the people who usually go to Tommy’s parties usually end up going to these actual big parties and other parties that Bryan has — it’s all kind of a chain link and it all links together to get to Bryan.”
Johnson, who declined to give his age, adamantly denied those claims.
There's a lot of speculation and hearsay in that article, but hopefully all will be revealed. One paragraph stood out:
ReplyDeletehat is not on its face any different than the parties held by powerful heterosexual men in Hollywood frequented by very young women. (One famous example: the Playboy Mansion, a palace with its own grotto specifically for such events, where movie stars and moguls have frolicked and fornicated for decades.) But therein lies the seed of this scandal. Hollywood is populated with monumentally wealthy people living within a culture of permissiveness and working in a male-dominated business largely organized around youth and unattainable beauty (gay or straight). It makes sense that young, driven, beautiful people would want to be a part of it — and older, rich, and powerful people would be happy to let them. It’s a cycle as old as Hollywood is, when the resolutely closeted gay stars and filmmakers of the 1930s, ’40s, and ’50s had few options to openly express their sexuality except within the confines of private homes, often facilitated by men like Scotty Bowers, who famously provided prostitutes and hustlers for the Hollywood elite.
Sounds like a full-time job, wonder what it pays ?
ReplyDeleteNo doubt underage girls have attended a lot of hollywood parties too. Just like straight men exposing themselves to criminal and civil consequences when messing with underage girls, gay men have same risk if messing with underage boys. No sympathy for either when it blows up on them.
ReplyDeleteAgreed
DeleteRead this last night. Props to BuzzFeed!
ReplyDeleteI just wish adults would leave children alone. It's disgusting and it's shocking all the stories out there. I honestly just don't get it. What is the draw to minors? Is it a power thing? They can't deal with someone their own age?
ReplyDeleteYes, they can't deal with someone that has theirs wits about them or has a backbone. The men are emotionally very immature. Heaven forbid someone says 'no' to them. They are used to so many 'yesses' that they don't know how to handle an actual challenging person.
DeleteIt seems as if part of the Hollywood entertainment machine has always been controlled by sexually spoiled and jaded people.
ReplyDeleteLeek- it's the power - whether it is political, religious , sports, - always find examples of sexual exploitation. Certainly not confined to hollywood.
DeleteIf they are all over 18, who cares. If one of the twinks gave false ID, they should be charged with fraud, because they are knowingly tricking someone into committing a felony.
ReplyDeleteGet me some stories of parties full of 18+ teen bims being plied w/ drugs and booze and fake starring roles to get them to consent to vile acts, then I can get my fapping done.
Right - there should be plenty of hot 18 yo's for these guys- no problem with unless underage.
DeleteNice reportage Seven. Leekalicious said it best.
ReplyDeleteCommunity theater looks good right about now for everyone who wants to be an actor. Selling your body and soul to be famous doesn't seem worth it. Yet these power players know the price some are willing to pay.
The reference I have in mind is Roman emperors.
ReplyDeleteA small number of them were quite normal guys, but when you're given not only a lot of money but absolute power, you tend to fulfill every fantasy in your book, just because you can.
A guy becomes famous overnight, women who wouldn't have looked at him before want to have sex with him because he's a star, and because he may get them a part. The guy will get offered coke and many other favors at every party he goes without even asking, because he's top of the hill.
It's hard to resist this kind of temptation, or take it as anything else than the "natural order" after a while. So, in a system which is clearly corrupted and crazy, it's no surprise that people turn up corrupt and crazy.
If they're 18, I don't care. Even if they're 17, I don't much care. If they're 13-14, then I do.
ReplyDeleteIf someone's raped I care whatever the age
DeleteEverybody is falling on their fainting couches over this one, but really - is it very much different from the myriad meat-market Hollywood parties, het or gay, which have occurred here repeatedly over many years? From Fatty Arbuckle to Charlie Chaplin to Thelma Todd and all the way to the hijinks of Charlie Sheen and the Bay/Tarantino/Ratner International Sexploitation Club, Hollywood is basically full of disgusting people. This Singer and Co. thing is par for the course. They just got caught.
ReplyDeleteThat picture is worth a thousand lawsuits. The kid looks so young and Singer looks so guilty. We all know in the media (and Hollywood), perception is reality.
ReplyDeleteIt's the same for straight guys in the biz. What's the scandal as long as they're 18?
ReplyDeleteI glad the Buzzfeed article did point out how really this is the same thing that has been going on to women since the begining of HW. People are getting shocked because guys are the victims here, it was the same thing with the boy scout molestation case years back. Bryan's parties have been well known in HW for years.
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ReplyDeleteI hope some justice comes from this. Too many perverts (woody allen) getting away with indecent behaviour. Time for hollywood to stop looking the other way. We must protect the young and innocent for this world to become a better place.
ReplyDeletePlus you'll have to learn about sentence structure and grammar, Enty.
ReplyDeleteStraight men have 17-18 yr old sex partners and sex parties, no one says anything. Gay men do the same thing and they are called kiddie rapers. Homophobic double standard.
ReplyDeleteHuh? What men do you know that ply 17-18 year olds with drugs for sex parties and people say it's ok?
DeleteThe lawsuit says he was raped. It isn't homophobic to be outraged at rape. I for one would also judge a heterosexual behaving like this poorly. The issue here isn't sexuality.
They're not all 18 and over. Anything under 18 in California is illegal.
ReplyDeleteIf the guy was raped at the party, then he must have really liked it to go to Hawaii for more rape.
ReplyDeleteFWIW, when I was a teen I used to go to TigerHeat. It's always been a gay club but they NEVER ID'd on Thursdays. I went when I was 16-17 year old scene kid and this was 8 years ago (think Myspace).
ReplyDeleteThere were always older men there and it was super clear they were trolling for young men. I think a lot of people commenting think that because it says it's a 18+ club that there were no underage kids, which was not the case at all. There were always a fuck ton. Back then it was common knowledge they didn't ID.
They were also super lax on parking lot drinking, which we did too, so a lot of the teens there are already intoxicated.
ReplyDeleteObviously Singer is one of those "in denial of his own aging, likes them young" types. That's his thing. I really don't care if they are over 18 and know what they are getting into. I care if they are drugged and made to perform against their will.
ReplyDeleteAs I've said before, I just hope this somehow leads to the more notorious cases that we've heard of in this space before, esp the Disney/Nick offenders. That would be justice.
I feel like this is being made into a deal because of the youth of the "playthings." I think if a story was coming out about Michael Bay, for example, recruiting 18 year old girls for sex at sex parties, we would all feel equally grossed out.
ReplyDeleteThat being said - if ANY of these kids were forced or coerced in any way - I don't care if they are 18 or not. And hey - kids routinely lie about their age, don't they? I find it all disgusting.
@texas rose True enough!
ReplyDeleteThese are the facts: Egan says the sex with Singer was in Hawaii in 1998 when he was 17. In 1998 14 was the legal age in that state. Whatever took place there Egan was not underage. In 2000 Egan went to the cops and the FBI and accused two older Hollywood guys of raping him then he sued them. He never accused Singer or mentioned his name according to the cops, the FBI and the court records.
ReplyDeleteCDANers may not have a homophobic double standard. If someone thought I was talking about him or her personally, I apologize. I'm talking about the public and media reaction to this story as a whole.
This article has made me do some sleuthing. Back in the late 90's my husband was an aspiring actor. He was 16 had a baby face. There was this producer guy he met in the set of Paper Brigade who said, "Hey I can get you in this movie with Leo, come with me to Hollywood." The movie being Don's Plum. My husband's step dad said HELL NO. Ever since my husband had been bitter about this thinking it could have been his big break, that is until today and this article. I Google the guy's name and he has been life long friends with Singer, looked at his FB friends list and this Castro dude is on it. Needless to say my mind has been a blown and my husband has called his step dad thanking him for saying no.
ReplyDeleteI have a friend I grew up with that eventually started working for Playboy (Photos and videos first and then part of it's radio network) and I see her post photos with celebs and politicians all the time. These things are normal in Hollywood.
ReplyDeletePlus I don't care about Singer's sex life, I just want him gone from directing since the only good thing he's ever done is The Usual Suspects (which is a classic) but since then everything he's done has been shit (Superman Returns, anyone?).