The director is accused of masturbating in front of the 'Newsroom' actress, forcing another woman to give him oral sex, and harassing female extras on the set of 'Rush Hour 2'.
- Nov 2, 2017
AceShowbiz - Brett Ratner is facing multiple sexual harassment allegations. The director/producer ("Rush Hour", "X-Men: The Last Stand", "The Revenant") was accused by half a dozen women including actress Olivia Munn of making unwanted sexual advances towards them.
Munn opened up on Ratner's misconduct for the very first time in 2010 in her memoir "Suck It, Wonder Woman! The Misadventures of a Hollywood Geek", but she didn't give any names back then. She decided to go on the record in support of five other women who were "brave enough to speak up."
"The Newsroom" star told Los Angeles Times that she had a horrible run-in with Ratner on the set of his 2004 movie "After the Sunset" when she was just an aspiring actress. She said that he masturbated in front of her when she delivered a meal to his trailer. She was shocked, let out a "startled scream," and made a mad dash out.
The "X-Men: Apocalypse" star later spoke with a lawyer but the attorney told her not to go up against a powerful director as a fledgling actress. "That did leave an impact on me" she claimed. "How broken do women have to be before people listen?"
In her memoir, she wrote, "He was masturbating. Right there. With shrimp in one hand. And me standing in front of him. Masturbating. Mastur-bating. I'm not even kidding." She described him as a director of "undersized manhood."
She was reportedly confronted by Ratner in a CAA-hosted party. "Why do you hate me?" he allegedly asked her before making crude comments, "I bought 10 of your magazines and came over all of them." Through his lawyer Martin Singer, he insisted that he "has no recollection of making such a statement."
In 2011 on TV show "Attack of the Show" which she co-hosted back then, Ratner admitted that he was the unnamed director whom she called out in her book. He said that he "banged her a few times." He claimed, "I forgot her, she got p***ed off, and so she made up all these stories about me eating shrimp and masturbating in my trailer. And she talked about my shortcomings."
Days later, he backpedalled. He told Howard Stern in a radio interview, "I said I banged her three times, which wasn't true. She's actually talented. The problem is I made her look like she's a w**re." He, however, insisted that he had an "intimate relationship" with the actress. She responded by calling it "a complete lie."
"I've made specific, conscientious choices not to work with Brett Ratner," Munn said. "It feels as if I keep going up against the same bully at school who just won't quit. You just hope that enough people believe the truth and for enough time to pass so that you can't be connected to him anymore."
Natasha Henstridge was another of Ratner's alleged victims. She claimed that he forced her to give him oral sex after a party at his New York apartment. She was 19 back then. He allegedly blocked her from leaving and "strong-armed" her "in a real way." She said, "At some point, I gave in and he did his thing."
Meanwhile, Jaime Ray Newman had an unpleasant encounter with Ratner in 2005 when they were on a same flight. She was "excited" to talk to the "famous director," but their conversation quickly turned sexual. "He was graphically describing giving me oral sex and how he was addicted to it," she said.
Ratner was additionally accused of harassing young attractive female background actresses when directing "Rush Hour 2" in Las Vegas. He allegedly asked for sexual favors in exchange for speaking part. His lawyer Martin Singer called the accusations "absurd." The attorney said, "The movie was obviously already cast and shooting, so the notion that there would be a discussion of getting her a speaking role in the middle of a movie shoot is ridiculous."
He also denied allegations made by the other women in a 10-page letter. "I have represented Mr. Ratner for two decades, and no woman has ever made a claim against him for sexual misconduct or sexual harassment," the lawyer said. "Furthermore, no woman has ever requested or received any financial settlement from my client."
