Brett Ratner has apologized after he uttered a gay slur during a press conference for his new film, Tower Heist, The Associated Press reports.
“It was a dumb way of expressing myself,” Ratner said in his statement. “Everyone who knows me knows that I don’t have a prejudiced bone in my body. But as a storyteller I should have been much more thoughtful about the power of language and my choice of words.”
Ratner is scheduled to produce next year’s Academy Awards. Tom Sherak, president of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, says Ratner will not be removed for his anti-gay remarks.
“The bottom line is, this won’t and can’t happen again. It will not happen again,” Sherak said. “The apology he gave I truly believe comes from his heart. … This is about integrity and honoring the Academy Awards, but we all make mistakes and I believe he didn’t mean it.”
GLAAD has reprimanded the director for his anti-gay comments, reiterating that such language is never acceptable under any circumstance. “The Academy and Hollywood need to send a clear message that such slurs, used even once, have no place in mainstream popular culture or at the helm of the industry that helps create it,” said Herndon Graddick, GLAAD senior director of programs.
Although the video of Ratner’s press conference has since been removed from the internet, the following transcript has been preserved according to The Wrap:
Q: So you get this entire group of actors together — what was rehearsal like?
A: Rehearsal? What’s that? Rehearsal’s for fags. Rehearsal. Not much. A lot of prep, preparation, complex action sequences, visual effects. Storyboards, animatics. The process was I made the actors stick to the script. And they wanted to, because the script was great.
UPDATE: Ratner has resigned from producing the Academy Awards.
“He did the right thing for the Academy and for himself,” Academy President Tom Sherak said in a statement. “Words have meaning, and they have consequences. Brett is a good person, but his comments were unacceptable. We all hope this will be an opportunity to raise awareness about the harm that is caused by reckless and insensitive remarks, regardless of the intent.”
