The movie about the late Playboy founder comes to a screeching halt after the director was accused of sexual harassment.
- Nov 3, 2017
AceShowbiz - The upcoming Hugh Hefner movie announced in the wake of the magazine mogul's death is now on jeopardy. The biopic expected to be directed by Brett Ratner and led by Jared Leto has been put on hold by Playboy following sexual harassment allegations against the director/producer.
"We are deeply troubled to learn about the accusations against Brett Ratner," a Playboy Enterprises spokesperson told TheWrap. "We find this kind of behavior completely unacceptable. We are putting all further development of our projects with RatPac Entertainment on hold until we are able to review the situation further."
Leto also dropped out of the project. Despite lack of denial when the casting news first came out, his representative insisted that the actor was never intended to lead the film in the first place. "Jared Leto is not and was not attached to a Brett Ratner-directed Hugh Hefner film, nor will he be working with him in the future," the rep said. "Earlier reports were incorrect and not confirmed by his representatives."
Brett Ratner was accused of misconduct by half a dozen women including actresses Olivia Munn and Natasha Henstridge. The former claimed that the director masturbated in front her while the later accused him of forcing her to give him an oral sex. He denied all the accusations.
Playboy was not the only one to cut ties with Ratner following his scandal. Warner Brothers is also distancing themselves from the embattled filmmaker. His multi-million deal with the studio won't be renewed and he no longer has an office on the WB lot.
"In light of the allegations being made, I am choosing to personally step away from all Warner Bros.-related activities," he said in a statement. "I don't want to have any possible negative impact to the studio until these personal issues are resolved."
