Brian May: Bryan Singer is technically "not the director" of Bohemian Rhapsody

13 February 2019, 10:54 | Updated: 13 February 2019, 11:56

Brian May performs in 2019. Picture: Mairo Cinquetti/NurPhoto via Getty Images

According to reports, the legendary Queen guitarist spoke out about the former director of the famous biopic at the BAFTAs and distanced him from the biopic.

Brian May has distanced the award-winning Bohemian Rhapsody film from its former director Bryan Singer.

The famous helmsman was let go from the making of the Queen and Freddie Mercury biopic, but still remains somewhat associated with film in the wake of recent child sexual abuse allegations.

Speaking to BBC at the BAFTAs, where Bohemian Rhapsody was nominated for seven awards and won two including Rami Malek's gong for Leading actor, Brian May said: “It's nothing to do with us.

“He hasn't been the director for a long time. He was sacked for very good reason... not by us, by Fox so it's a very arm's-length thing for us.”

The We Will Rock You guitarist added: "The only reason he's on the movie is his guild forced Fox to do this... technically, really, he's not the director of the movie. That's just life."

He concluded diplomatically: “Everybody who had something to do with the movie should be very proud.”

Watch May play his epic guitar solo for Bohemian Rhapsody as the cast of the film look on:

May previously issued a public apology to a fan on Instagram, who suggested he unfollow the Hollywood director in the light of recent sexual abuse allegations.

The Queen guitarist angrily responded to the Instagram follower: "You need to look after your own business and stop telling me what to do," before he apologised for his comments.

His message began: "Dear Folks - I was shocked and saddened to realise what I had done by my hasty and inconsiderate IG reply to this lady yesterday. I’ve posted an apology to her in the ‘reply’ box, but it seems to have disappeared - so I’m going to try to repeat it here, to be clear."

The We Are The Champions guitarist continued: "Dear Sue, I’m so sorry that I responded to your post so snappily and inconsiderately. My response was a result of my perception that someone was telling me what to do. I now realise that I was completely wrong in thinking that."

See his full Instagram post below:

View this post on Instagram

Dear Folks - I was shocked and saddened to realise what I had done by my hasty and inconsiderate IG reply to this lady yesterday. I’ve posted an apology to her in the ‘reply’ box, but it seems to have disappeared - so I’m going to try to repeat it here, to be clear. ———- Dear Sue, I’m so sorry that I responded to your post so snappily and inconsiderately. My response was a result of my perception that someone was telling me what to do. 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. Sadly, this is all very public, but since I snapped at you in public, it’s only fitting that I should apologise in public. I’m going to try to follow you so we can communicate privately if you want. With love - Bri. —— I should add that this is also a sincere apology to anyone else out there that I inadvertently offended. No such offence was intended and I will be more careful in future. Bri

A post shared by Brian Harold May (@brianmayforreal) on Jan 24, 2019 at 8:25pm PST

He added: "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. "

May concluded: "I should add that this is also a sincere apology to anyone else out there that I inadvertently offended. No such offence was intended and I will be more careful in future. Bri".

Meanwhile, Radio X's own Queen super-fan John Robins has appeared in an advert for the Bohemian Rhapsody DVD, where he transforms into Freddie Mercury.

Watch Robins in action below:

See Rami Malek and Gwilym Lee take our ultimate Queen quiz: