Ratner quits Oscars over gay slur

Ratner quits Oscars over gay slur
Ratner quits Oscars over gay slur
Ratner quits Oscars over gay slur

The Tower Heist director – Brett Ratner – has quit as the producer of next year’s Oscars show, over comments he made during a question and answer session with fans at the weekend.Asked about his creative process, Ratner said, “Rehearsal is for fags.”

Some saw the comment as a slur against the gay community. Other more forgiving commentators suggested it was bad enough that a director was dismissing the idea of rehearsing, something clearly valued by many other creative figures.

The concerns of some Academy members were heightened further after Ratner gave a controversial interview to Howard Stern on Monday night. The Academy President Tom Sherak said stepping down was the right thing for both the Academy and for Ratner himself.” Words have meaning and they have consequences,” Sherak said in a statement. “Brett is a good person, but his comments were unacceptable.”

Ratner wrote an open letter to the entertainment industry to apologise unreservedly to anyone he had hurt or offended. “Having love in your heart doesn’t count for much if what comes out of your mouth is ugly and bigoted,” he acknowledged, promising to take action over the coming weeks to “stamp out the kind of thoughtless bigotry I’ve so foolishly perpetuated.”

Ratner took on the role in August, and was instrumental in hiring one of the stars of Tower Heist, Eddie Murphy, to host the show. There’s no news yet on whether Murphy will stay on without Ratner.

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