NOTE: This article contains disturbing and sexually explicit language. Please read at your own discretion.
Producer Brett Ratner is the latest powerful figure in Hollywood to be accused of sexual harassment. Six women, including actors Olivia Munn and Natasha Henstridge, came forward in a report by the Los Angeles Times, alleging Ratner did sexually inappropriate things to them without their consent.
In a statement via his lawyer, Martin Singer, Ratner strongly denied the allegations.
“I have represented Mr. Ratner for two decades, and no woman has ever made a claim against him for sexual misconduct or sexual harassment,” Singer said to the Times. “Furthermore, no woman has ever requested or received any financial settlement from my client.”
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Munn claimed she had several unsettling encounters with Ratner, and went into detail about an alleged incident on the set of their 2004 film After the Sunset. She said she brought food to his trailer, and accused Ratner of coming out of his bathroom wearing no pants and “furiously masturbating.”
Munn also says, in 2011, Ratner appeared on TV and claimed to have slept with her, even though she insists that never happened. (A few days later, he apologized on The Howard Stern Show for making the statement.)
Henstridge alleges that, in the early 1990s, she was at Ratner’s apartment and he forced her to perform oral sex on him. She was a 19-year-old model at the time.
Other actors Katherine Towne, Eri Sasaki, Jamie Ray Newman and Jorina King also recounted their alleged sexual encounters with Ratner, 48.
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Five former Ratner assistants and colleagues are also interviewed in the Times report, and they all claim to know the producer very well, saying they’d never seen him engage in any sexually inappropriate behaviour.
Ratner is the producer behind movies like The Revenant and Black Mass, and is the head of RatPac Entertainment. RatPac currently has a $450-million film co-financing pact with movie studio Warner Bros. As of this writing, Warner Bros. has not commented on the allegations.
On its website, RatPac outlines its successes, including 51 Academy Award nominations for its films and 21 Oscar wins.
Ratner’s Hollywood counterparts, Harvey Weinstein and James Toback, are currently facing their own sexual allegations — Weinstein is nearing 100 different accusers and Toback has more than 300. Both have denied any allegations of non-consensual sex.
Weinstein is under criminal investigation in Los Angeles, New York City and London, while Los Angeles police have started up an investigation on Toback.
If you or someone you know is experiencing abuse or is involved in an abusive situation, please visit the Canadian Resource Centre for Victims of Crime for help. They are also reachable toll-free at 1-877-232-2610.