A former TV executive who was sued by a former model alleging sexual abuse on Friday filed a lawsuit of his own, accusing Michael Egan III and his lawyers of malicious prosecution — just two days after they dropped the legal action against him.
Lawyers representing Garth Ancier filed the federal lawsuit against Egan and his attorneys, Jeffrey Herman of Florida and Michael Gallagher of Hawaii, in U.S. District Court in Hawaii Friday.
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The suit alleges that the sex abuse lawsuit, which was withdrawn Wednesday, was intended to “smear, harass and severely injure Mr.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.”
Herman shot back in a statement to NBC News, calling Ancier's suit "nothing more than an attempt to silence victims."
Egan’s attorneys did not explain why they dropped the sex abuse suit on Wednesday.
Egan sued Ancier as well as "X-Men" director Bryan Singer, producer Gary Goddard and TV executive David Neuman of sexually abusing him during trips to Hawaii in 1999.
Three weeks ago, Egan also dropped the suit against Neuman, who had worked for Disney and CNN as a TV executive. Suits remain pending against Goddard and Singer. Both have denied the allegations.
Ancier is a former president of programming at the WB Television Network and NBC Entertainment.
