Director and producer Brett Ratner, who has had a hand in making movies including X-Men: The Last Stand, The Revenant and Horrible Bosses, has been accused of sexual assault or misconduct by six women in Hollywood. Olivia Munn and Natasha Henstridge are two of the women who have come forward to tell their stories.
Natasha, who most recently could be seen in the TV series Medinah, alleges that the 48-year-old director forced her to perform oral sex on him when she was 19 years old.
“He strong-armed me in a real way. He physically forced himself on me,” she said. “At some point, I gave in and he did his thing,” Natasha told the LA Times.
Natasha added that she recently auditioned for Brett’s TV show Prison Break, and he acted like they were old friends.
“I had two young kids and had to go to work and make a living. And he just acted like we were old friends from back in the day in New York, saying, ‘I haven’t seen you in years.’ Auditioning is already bad enough. But trying to focus on the work, I just felt sick,” she said.
Olivia alleges that Ratner performed a sex act on himself in front of her in 2004 on the set of After the Sunset.
“He walked out … with his belly sticking out, no pants on, shrimp cocktail in one hand and he was furiously masturbating in the other,” Olivia said. “And before I literally could even figure out where to escape or where to look, he ejaculated.”
“I’ve made specific, conscientious choices not to work with Brett Ratner,” Olivia added. “It feels as if I keep going up against 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.”
“That did leave an impact on me,” she continued. “How broken do women have to be before people listen?”
Actresses Katharine Towne, Jaime Ray Newman, and more have also shared their stories in this exposé.
Ratner‘s lawyer is vehemently denying the allegations, saying, “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.”