Scene - Blogs - Gay slur = out as Oscar producer

Gay slur = out as Oscar producer
Published: 11/9/2011 1:52 PM
Last Modified: 11/9/2011 1:52 PM

Brett Ratner

I've thought for years that Brett Ratner was among the top blowhards in Hollywood, dating back to an email I received before I interviewed the filmmaker in 2007.

His antics in the past week, which got him booted as producer of the next Academy Awards, only serve to confirm this fact.

The bad-boy film director of the "Rush Hour" movies and the supposedly inspired choice to inject some new blood (read: younger and edgier) into the Academy Award telecast was hired as co-producer, with his pal Eddie Murphy to host.

Now Ratner has backed out of that job (Eddie's quit as well) amid the controversy of his using a gay slur in a recent Q&A session following a screening of his new film "Tower Heist." (The quote: "Rehearsal? What's that? Rehearsal's for f---.").

Do you need more evidence that this guy is an unconventional choice to be the producer of the venerable, conservative Oscars?

Well then, check out some of his choice quotes from his interview last week on Howard Stern's show, in which he discussed the size of his testicles, his oral sex proficiency, his "banging" actresses and his fairly recent adoption of using condoms for sex.

The man is a real class act.

Ratner has apologized for his gay slur, but that lame attempt ("It was a dumb way of expressing myself...") was too little, too late for damage control purposes. It was an attempt to save his Oscar job, but if it had been a racial slur, would a similar attempt have been made? I don't think so.

But back to that 2007 email. I was about to go out of town to interview him and it didn't seem unusual that the studio representative would ask me to "familiarize" myself with Brett Ratner. Sure, I want to ask the man intelligent questions during our one-on-one interview, so I'll do some research.

What caught my eye was the email comment "you may see him in the hall and I want you to know who he is."

The inference was obvious, if I read between the lines: He's not a star and he looks like anybody, but Brett Ratner is not just anybody. Brett Ratner is a "somebody," and it's important that you recognize him and act excited if you see him in the hotel suite while awaiting your turn to talk with him.

Cue the rolling of the eyes. I've always kept this email as a reminder of Hollywood vanity, and for the chuckle it always provides.

Talking to Ratner in person for 15 minutes went fine. It was very natural talking to him about his movie, because it was like talking to a stranger over a beer about a ballgame. He's a dude's dude.

Ratner definitely now qualifies as a "somebody." He's the guy who was going to produce the Academy Awards, which was going to be about as close to an Oscar as he was likely to come.

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myopinion (last year)

He apologize but he failed to cut his wrist...So it wasn't a sincere apology.

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I See Movies for Free

“I was born a poor, black child” … not me, actually, but Steve Martin’s character in the “The Jerk.” That absurd opening line is just one of the absurd number of film facts, quotes and minutiae contained in movie critic Michael Smith’s brain, at his disposal to toss out on a moment’s notice. It’s a key requirement as Tulsa World film critic to know these things. Michael learned a few other life facts along the way (seven years as a Crystal’s Pizza & Spaghetti manager) before attempting journalism and joining the Tulsa World in 1996, where he’s covered everything from a school shooting in Fort Gibson to a tornado in Stroud to witnessing an execution. A little community theater coverage was sprinkled in there, too. Movies engender many of his happiest memories, from standing in line for “Star Wars” and “Grease” at the Southroads Cinema to the James Bond and Pink Panther movies that always premiered at the enormous Continental Theater.

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Past Articles By Michael Smith

2/16/2013		Broken Arrow movie theater moves to discount showings
2/15/2013		Review: 'Amour'
2/15/2013		Review: 'A Good Day to Die Hard'
2/15/2013		Review: 'Beautiful Creatures'
2/14/2013		Review: 'Quartet'
2/14/2013		Shirley MacLaine to speak at Osage Casino
2/14/2013		Weekly rewind: February 14
2/14/2013		REVIEW: 'Beautiful Creatures'
2/12/2013		Belgian best picture hopeful 'Amour' opens in Tulsa on Friday
2/10/2013		'Die Hard' marathon at AMC Southroads on Wednesday ends with new film
2/9/2013		Review: 'Identity Thief' a stupid movie from stupid idea
2/8/2013		Oscar audit: Critics choices for best picture hold up over time

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