Queen Guitarist Brian May Apologizes for Defending ‘Bohemian Rhapsody’ Director Bryan Singer

Queen guitarist Brian May apologized to his fans late Thursday night after he appeared to defend fired Bohemian Rhapsody director Bryan Singer, who is the subject of several sexual assault and misconduct allegations.

When an Instagram user urged May to unfollow Singer on Instagram following The Atlantic‘s damning exposé detailing years of allegations of sexual misconduct and sex with minors against Singer, May responded by telling them to “look after your own business.”

“And you need to learn to respect the fact that a man or woman is innocent until proven guilty,” he added.

The comment earned much backlash, with many calling it disrespectful to the alleged victims who have come forward.

In his response to the backlash, May apologized for his “hasty and inconsiderate” message, and apologized to both the specific Instagram user , s well as “anyone else out there that I inadvertently offended.”

“My response was a result of my perception that someone was telling me what to do,” he wrote in the lengthy caption of his post. “I now realise that I was completely wrong in thinking that. You were actually just trying to protect me, for which I thank you. I am mortified to discover the effect my words produced. I had no idea that saying someone was innocent until proven guilty could be interpreted as ‘defending’ Bryan Singer. I had absolutely no intention of doing that. I guess I must be naive, because also it had never occurred to me that ‘following’ a person on Instagram could be interpreted as approving of that person. The only reason I followed Bryan Singer was that we were working with him on a project. That situation came to an end when Mr Singer was removed during the shooting of the film, but I suppose unfollowing him never occurred to me as a necessity. Now, because of this misunderstanding, I have unfollowed. I’m so sorry. This must have caused you a lot of upset.”

“I wish I could take the comment back, but all I can do is apologise, and hope that my apology will begin to make amends,” he added.

In Bohemian Rhapsody, May is portrayed by Gwilym Lee. The movie just saw its GLAAD Media Awards nomination pulled in light of the new allegations. Singer was fired from the film with just three weeks of filming left; reports detailed that he would go missing during production and that he clashed with cast members. While he admitted to “creative differences on set,” Singer claimed his departure was because 20th Century Fox would not allow him to take time away to deal with an ill parent.

Meanwhile, Singer is still set to direct the Red Sonja adaptation from Millennium Films. “I know the difference between agenda driven fake news and reality, and I am very comfortable with this decision,” the film’s producer, Avi Lerner, said Thursday. “In America people are innocent until proven otherwise.”

Singer has categorically denied all sexual assault and misconduct accusations against him.