Hollywood studio cuts ties to director Brett Ratner after sexual harassment allegations
Rush Hour director fires back at one accuser with libel lawsuit
Warner Bros. is severing ties with Brett Ratner amid multiple sexual harassment claims made against the producer and director, who has fired back against one accuser with a libel lawsuit.
A person familiar with the studio's decision said Wednesday that Ratner's expired first-look production deal with the studio will not be renewed and that he will no longer occupy the office space he rented on the company's lot in Burbank, Calif.
The person spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to discuss the matter publicly.
Ratner, perhaps best known for directing the Rush Hour series and X-Men: The Last Stand, has also been taken off of the forthcoming adaptation of Donna Tartt's novel The Goldfinch, which he had previously been set to produce.
Ratner's production company, RatPac Entertainment still has a financing deal with the studio — one that encompasses much of Warner Bros.'s output, including Wonder Woman, It and the upcoming Justice League — that will continue until March 2018. The person said it is unclear whether the $450-million co-financing deal, signed in 2013, will be renewed.
A Warner Bros. representative said the studio had no comment.
Wonder Woman director Patty Jenkins, who presented an award to Ratner at a Los Angeles function on Sunday, said she was "extremely distressed" to read the sexual harassment allegations against him.
<a href="https://t.co/atHlox4Erx">pic.twitter.com/atHlox4Erx</a>
—@PattyJenksEarlier, Ratner said he was personally stepping away from Warner Bros. related activities until what he called "personal issues" are resolved.
A Los Angeles Times article published Wednesday detailed claims of sexual harassment made against him by six women, including actresses Olivia Munn and Natasha Henstridge. Martin Singer, Ratner's attorney, has denied the sexual harassment allegations on his behalf.
Meanwhile, Ratner has filed a lawsuit against a woman who alleged, in a Facebook post on Oct. 20, that the director-producer had raped her more than a decade ago. On Wednesday, Ratner filed a complaint in Hawaii federal court denying the allegations and categorizing the social media post as libel.