Hollywood director and producer Brett Ratner of RatPac Entertainment is facing a lot of heat this week after being accused of sexual misconduct by six different women, two of them being actresses Natasha Henstridge (Species) and Olivia Munn (Office Christmas Party), according to an article released by the Los Angeles Times.
According to Henstridge, she was only a 19-year-old fashion model when she met Ratner in the early 1990s. He was an up-and-coming twenty-something director at the time. The article states that Henstridge “was watching a movie on Brett Ratner’s couch when she fell asleep… They had been hanging out in front of the TV with friends at his New York apartment. But when Henstridge woke up, the others had left. She was alone with Ratner. She got up to leave, Henstridge said, but he blocked the doorway with his body and wouldn’t budge. He began touching himself, she said, then forced her to perform oral sex.”
From his twenties, Ratner went on to be a young hot shot in Hollywood, directing such films as Rush Hour and X-Men: The Last Stand as well as producing big blockbusters like Horrible Bosses and The Revenant. During that time, he also became known as a Hollywood playboy, being linked to starlets like Lindsay Lohan, Paris Hilton, and Mariah Carey.
Munn’s allegations take place early on in her career as well in 2004 when she visited him on set of his movie After the Sunset; while there, “he masturbated in front of her in his trailer when she went to deliver a meal.” Munn detailed this account in her 2010 collection of essays, but left out Ratner’s name. The next year, Ratner went on to claim that he and Munn had a sexual relationship together and walked the statement back soon after.
Munn described Ratner to the LA Times as “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.”
Ratner released a statement on the matter through his lawyer Martin Singer, a 10-page letter to The Times in which he disputed the claims. Singer says “I have represented Mr. Ratner for two decades, and no woman has ever made a claim against him for sexual misconduct or sexual harassment. Furthermore, no woman has ever requested or received any financial settlement from my client.”
Regardless, Ratner has stepped away from his future projects with Warner Bros. for the time being in the wake of the allegations.