So a couple weeks ago, director Brett Ratner was pegged as the producer of the Academy Awards, which is weird because I thought they usually only gave jobs like that to people who don’t suck at making movies. Anyway, after a week wherein he lied about screwing actress Olivia Munn and then said that rehearsal was for fags, TMZ is saying that Brett decided now might be a good time to duck out and quit before he ends up completely unemployable. Well, more so anyway.
Now, he’s penned an open letter … apologizing for the “hurtful and stupid things I’ve said” … and adding, “Having love in your heart doesn’t count for much if what comes out of your mouth is ugly and bigoted.” Ratner continued, “Being asked to help put on the Oscar show was the proudest moment of my career. But as painful as this may be for me, it would be worse if my association with the show were to be a distraction from the Academy and the high ideals it represents.” Ratner says he’s been in contact with GLAAD — the Gay and Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation — and he promises he will work to “increase awareness of the important and troubling issues this episode has raised. I deeply regret my actions and I am determined to learn from this experience.”
I like to think the real reason behind this is that someone took the coke straw out of their nose long enough to realize that although hiring Brett to put together an Oscars telecast was hilarious at like two in the morning, it was a little less funny when the guy who made all those Rush Hour movies would actually be putting together one of those most important broadcasts of the year. Just imagine Chris Tucker screeching “THE AWARD GOES TO HELEN MIRREN BITCH!” while sitting on a toilet fighting ninjas. Actually, I take this back. This would be awesome.
