Rush Hour director Brett Ratner has lost his role as a producer for the 84th annual Academy Awards after he used a gay slur last week during a Q&A session in Los Angeles.
When asked about his rehearsal process Ratner had responded:
“Rehearsal is for fa*s.”
The Towerheist director quickly apologized for his remarks however that wasn’t enough to keep him on-board for the Eddie Murphy hosted awards show (Murphy stars alongside Ben Stiller in Towerheist ).
In a statement to the press on Tuesday morning the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences said:
“This morning, Brett Ratner submitted his resignation as a producer of the 84th annual Academy Awards to Academy President Tom Sherak.”
After his resignation was announced Ratner sent an open letter to the Hollywood community:
“As difficult as the last few days have been for me, they cannot compare to the experience of any young man or woman who has been the target of offensive slurs or derogatory comments. And they pale in comparison to what any gay, lesbian, or transgender individual must deal with as they confront the many inequalities that continue to plague our world,” Ratner wrote.
The letter continued:
“So many artists and craftspeople in our business are members of the LGBT community, and it pains me deeply that I may have hurt them. I should have known this all along, but at least I know it now: words do matter. Having love in your heart doesn’t count for much if what comes out of your mouth is ugly and bigoted…Please know that I will be taking real action over the coming weeks and months in an effort to do everything I can both professionally and personally to help stamp out the kind of thoughtless bigotry I’ve so foolishly perpetuated.” [Letter obtained by The Hollywood Reporter ]
In the meantime Ratner is still in hot water for claiming he had sex with actress Olivia Munn while appearing on her now cancelled G4 series Attack of the Show.
In the words of Morrissey “Big Mouth Strike Again.”
Do you think it was the right decision to have Brett Ratner resign as an Oscars producer?
