Brett Ratner’s films are all about fun; babes, explosions and a shrieking Chris Tucker. He’s a little like Michael Bay’s younger brother, sharing a love of blowing stuff up but standing back and cracking a gag while he does it. His knack for fairly mindless spectacle seemed to make him a good fit for the Oscars, especially with Eddie Murphy, who Ratner recently directed in TOWER HEIST, as host. But then Brett broke a couple of Hollywood’s cardinal rules: don’t dismissively dish on fellow celebs, and don’t say things like “rehearsals are for fags”.
Whether Ratner resigned or “resigned”, he clearly knows that he stepped over the line, and issued a well meaning and sincere sounding statement apologising for his actions (whilst reminding the reader that he didn’t mean what he said, of course). ‘To everyone I’ve hurt and offended, I’d like to apologize publicly and unreservedly’, he says, adding ‘I should have known this all along, but at least I know it now: words do matter’. Clearly Ratner has made a bad move, though his slur has gotten him about as much media attention as he’s ever had in his career. On the whole, though, it’s probably good he’s not producing the Oscars; it’s a heavily synchronised affair, and we know his stance on rehearsing.
Source: AMPAS
