Warner Bros. are cutting their final ties with director Brett Ratner’s film funding company after multiple accusations of sexual misconduct and assault of women surfaced last year.
The financial agreement between the two companies is worth $450 million and will end after the release of Dwayne Johnson’s new film Rampage. Ratner’s company, Ratpac-Dune Entertainment funded up to 75 films in the industry.
According to The Los Angeles Times a spokesman for Warner Bros. confirmed their company would no longer have any sort of business dealings with Ratner in the future. The current agreement was set to expire this autumn when Warner Bros. decided not to renew their contract.
On November 1st 2017, The LA Times first reported six women had accused Ratner“of sexual misconduct, or assault, including harassment, inappropriate touching and forced oral sex.”
The women included actor Olivia Munn and Natasha Henstridge.
Munn posted the news story to her Instagram earlier today.
In 2017, actor Ellen Page posted a detailed account on her Facebook of how Ratner suggested she “fuck” another women “to make her realize she’s gay”. Page was 18 at the time and had not come out as a lesbian yet.
Weeks after the first report, a second was published detailing more alleged incidents of misconduct with five other women.
Ratner has always denied the claims and has yet to comment on Warner Bros.’, decision.
Ratner is known for his work on Horrible Bosses, Rush Hour, Hercules and The Revenant.
This comes as many highly positioned men of power in Hollywood have been made to answer for their indecent actions in the film industry. Most infamous is disgraced producer Harvey Weinstein. The New Yorker and The New York Times reported decades of allegations of sexual harassment against Weinstein who allegedly used his position of power to manipulate and force himself on multiple women. Actors Romola Garai, Rose McGowan, and Ashley Judd were among the women who came forward.
Weinstein’s fall sparked Me Too and Time’s Up, organisations dedicated to ending sexual assault and sexism in the film industry as well as supporting survivors of sexual assault.
If you are in distress and want to talk to someone about sexual assault, you can contact 1800 RESPECT or via their website HERE.
