Thursday, March 28, 2024

Warner Bros Weighs Brett Ratner Deal After Multiple Sexual Harassment Allegations

Director Brett Ratner attends the 2017 Vanity Fair Oscar Party hosted by Graydon Carter at Wallis Annenberg Center for the Performing Arts on February 26, 2017 in Beverly Hills, California.
Director Brett Ratner attends the 2017 Vanity Fair Oscar Party hosted by Graydon Carter at Wallis Annenberg Center for the Performing Arts on February 26, 2017 in Beverly Hills, California.

*After news broke that at least six women have now accused filmmaker Brett Ratner of sexual harassment or assault, Warner Bros. is reportedly scrambling to deal with the fallout.

“We are aware of the allegations in the LA Times and are reviewing the situation,” said a Warners spokesperson, according to The Hollywood Reporter.

Ratner has a first-look deal at the studio and also is a partner in the RatPac-Dune Entertainment slate financing facility that covers a broad swath of Warner Bros. films including the recent tentpole Wonder Woman.

According to an LA Times story published this morning (Nov. 1), the director-producer has been accused of sexual assault or harassment by six women, including actresses Olivia Munn and Natasha Henstridge, who detailed their experiences.

Henstridge claims that Ratner forced her to perform oral sex on her in his New York apartment in the 1990s. The actress, then a 19-year-old model, was hanging out with the then-music video director watching TV. Henstridge fell asleep, she told the Times, and when she woke up the others had left and she was alone with Ratner. He blocked the exit and began touching himself, she tells the Times, and then he forced her to perform oral sex on him.

Munn said that while visiting the set of Ratner’s “After the Sunset” in 2004, he masturbated in front of her in his trailer. Munn described the incident, without naming Ratner, in a 2010 collection of essays.

The LA Times report describes other encounters where Ratner aggressively pursued actresses, sometimes following them into a bathroom. An extra on “Rush Hour 2” named Eri Sasaki said Ratner suggested he would give her a line in the film if she slept with him.

Ratner’s attorney Martin Singer dismissed the accounts of all six women. None of the women the Times spoke to reported the allegations to the police, the paper says in its Wednesday (Nov. 1) story.

A source says Warner Bros. is reviewing Ratner’s presence on the lot, where he currently occupies the plum offices once used by Frank Sinatra.

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