Co-Producer for Oscar Telecast Resigns
LOS ANGELES — Brett Ratner on Tuesday abruptly resigned as the co-producer of next year’s Oscar broadcast, after he used an anti-gay slur at a public event and made frank sexual remarks on Howard Stern’s radio show.
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Times Topic: Academy Awards (Oscars)
In a statement late Tuesday, Mr. Ratner said he had resigned after speaking with Tom Sherak, the president of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, which awards the Oscars.
“He did the right thing, and they did the right thing,” Rob Epstein, a member of the academy’s governing board and a director of “The Celluloid Closet,” said of Mr. Ratner and the academy on Tuesday. “I’m proud to be associated with a group that made the right call.”
Whether Mr. Ratner’s resignation would affect Eddie Murphy’s plans to host the Oscar telecast, set for Feb. 26 on ABC, remained unclear. Mr. Murphy’s agents and publicist had no immediate response on Tuesday evening.
A bad-boy director known as much for Hollywood high jinks as his films, Mr. Ratner over the weekend quickly drew disapproval after he used a pejorative term for homosexual men during a public question-and-answer session for his latest film, “Tower Heist.” The film, which co-stars Mr. Murphy, opened to middling ticket sales on Friday.
Even as Mr. Ratner was apologizing , new controversy erupted related to his comments on Monday on Mr. Stern’s Sirius XM Radio show.
In the freewheeling interview, Mr. Ratner discussed his sex habits and encounters with actresses, including Lindsay Lohan.
The academy’s governors and executives did not say how or even if they would replace Mr. Ratner’s role at the Oscars. With his track record for low-brow movies like the “Rush Hour” series, he had already been widely viewed as an unlikely choice to produce the show.
Don Mischer, a seasoned television producer who was to join Mr. Ratner in staging the Oscar telecast, remains on board. But the academy has generally leaned on a film-oriented producer in assembling the stars, acts and movie lore behind the show, from which the group receives about $80 million in annual revenue.
Mr. Sherak, through a spokeswoman, declined to discuss what might be the academy’s next step. The group, which has about 6,000 members drawn from the film industry’s professional ranks, operates a number of educational and film preservation and archival programs, in addition to staging the Oscar show.
Mr. Ratner, in a statement, apologized for his comments.
“Over the last few days, I’ve gotten a well-deserved earful from many of the people I admire most in this industry,” he said, adding, “To them, and to everyone I’ve hurt and offended, I’d like to apologize publicly and unreservedly.”
Mr. Ratner, in his statement, said he planned to take “real action” over the coming months to help stamp out what he called the kind of “thoughtless bigotry” he had himself committed.
موضوع: Co-Producer for Oscar Telecast Resigns 
9/11/2011, 13:14
