Hollywood

Brett Ratner

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Name: Brett Ratner

Age: 48

Role: Hollywood director and producer

Accusations: 6 women accuse Ratner of sexual harassment and assault. Some of these allegations are jointly made against Ratner and Russell Simmons, co-founder of Def Jam Recordings.

Company Reaction: Warner Bros. cuts ties with Ratner, and numerous other individuals and companies are backing away from him.

Ratner’s Response: Ratner has denied all allegations.

 

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This long and detailed article enumerates not just the allegations against Ratner, but also the pervasive culture of abuse that allowed him to get away with it. It describes supporters of Ratner saying that he was “just hitting on beautiful women,” apparently not recognizing that pervasive unwanted actions constitute workplace sexual harassment.

Six Women Accuse Filmmaker Brett Ratner of Sexual Harassment or Misconduct, The LA TImes, by Amy Faufman and Daniel Miller, Nov 1, 2017

Natasha Henstridge

In the early 1990’s, Henstridge, Ratner and some friends were hanging out in Ratner’s NY apartment. She fell asleep on the couch, and when she woke up everyone else had left. She tried to leave but Ratner physically forced her to perform oral sex on him.

Olivia Munn

In 2004 Ratner masturbated in front of her; in the years since he has frequently taunted her with malicious lies about their non-existent former relationship, as well as deragatory boasts about having masturbated on magazines with her picture on the cover.

Jaime Ray Newman

When the actress met Ratner on a first class Air Canada flight in 2005, he began loudly telling her about how he wanted to give her oral sex – within minutes of having met her.

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Katharine Towne

She met Ratner at a party, at which he chased he around all night – including into the bathroom! After the party, Ratner’s assistant called her for 6 months, trying to arrange a date.

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Eri Sasaki

As a 21-year-old extra on Rush Hour 2, Ratner ran his finger down her bare midriff (her costume for the film was skimpy). As he did so, he asked her if she wanted to go into the bathroom with him. When she said no, he responded, “Why? Don’t you want to be famous?”

Warner Bros. Cuts Ties, The LA Times, by Ryan Faughnder and Daniel Miller, Nov 1, 2017

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Kevin Spacey

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Name: Kevin Spacey

Age: 58

Role: Academy Award-winning actor; most recently the star of the Netflix hit, “House of Cards”

Accusations: An actor named Anthony Rapp accused Spacey of sexually assaulting him in 1986 when Rapp was just 14 years old.

This was followed by 8 employees of House of Cards saying that Spacey had created a toxic work environment through a pattern of sexual harassment.

Company Reaction: Production was halted on “House of Cards,” and Netflix said they didn’t want anything to do with it if Spacey remained involved.

Spacey’s Response: Spacey took the opportunity of his apology to come out of the closet; a move that earned him tremendous backlash from all sides.

 

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House of Cards Employees Allege Sexual Harassment, Assault by Kevin Spacey , Money.CNN.com, by Chloe Melas, Nov 3, 2017

James Toback

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Name: James Toback (updated 4/29/18)

Age: 73

Role: Hollywood screenwriter and director

Accusations: A total of 359 women have now accused Toback of sexual harassment, over a period of 4 decades. Most of the accusations amount to Toback masturbating in front of them (or on them – there a disturbingly high number of accusations that involve Toback dry-humping their leg).

38 of these women sat down for interviews with the Los Angeles Times’ Glenn Whipp for an expose he published on Oct 22, 2017 (see the Big Picture section, below). Within 24 hours, an additional 200 women had reached out to Whipp with their stories of Toback’s vulgar behavior toward them, which he published in a second story on Oct 23, 2017.

The Los Angeles Police Department said it has fielded numerous calls from women wanting to file criminal complaints against Toback.

Company Reaction: While Hollywood is disgusted, there doesn’t seem to be any one person, company or organization that could inflict serious consequences on Toback, so none have. He has, however, been dropped by his agent, Jeff Berg.

Toback’s Response: Toback categorically denies the allegations, saying it would be “biologically impossible” for him to have done everything he’s accused of, as he has diabetes and a heart condition. Rolling Stone’s Hillel Aron got a vociferous denial over the phone, which you can hear on the Response tab, below.

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“In a hotel room, a movie trailer, a public park, meetings framed as interviews or auditions quickly turned sexual. During these meetings, Toback boasted of sexual conquests with the famous and then asked humiliating personal questions. How often do you masturbate? How much pubic hair do you have? He’d tell them, they said, that he couldn’t properly function unless he “jerked off” several times a day. And then he’d dry-hump them or masturbate in front of them, ejaculating into his pants or onto their bodies and then walk away. Meeting over.”

38 Women Have Come Forward to Accuse Director James Toback of Sexual Harassment , The LA Times, by Glenn Whipp, Oct 22, 2017

200 More Women Share Their James Toback Stories, After 38 Accuse Director of Sexual Harassment, The LA Times, by Glenn Whipp, Oct 23, 2017

The majority of the accusations revolve around Toback masturbating in front of them – while she complies with his demand to pinch his nipples, while he looks into her eyes, while he watches her undress (saying it’s for an acting part), or just while he dry-humps her leg.

They’re all detailed in sordid detail in the article in the Big Picture section, but several have told their own stories in other outlets: 

Sari Kamin, Medium, 10/16/17, “I am one of the countless women that filmmaker James Toback has harassed.” 

Adrienne LaValley, actress
Starr Rinaldi, actress
Louise Post, guitarist & vocalist for Veruca Salt
Kelley Raleigh
Karen Sklaire, drama teacher
Anna Scott, LA radio reporter
Echo Danon, actress
Sari Kamin
Terri Conn, actress
Chantal Cousineau, actress
Ashly McQueen, flight attendant

Toback has now been dropped by his agent, Jeff Berg. 

Toback emphatically denied all accusations, which he categorically called “pathetic lies” in his (brief) interview with Rolling Stone reporter, Hillel Aron. 

What’s most interesting about Toback’s denial is the way he somehow manages to portray himself both as an angry, affronted man of integrity as well as a self-pitying victim who all these despicable people are just ganging up on. 

Who else have we heard exhibiting this tone, hmmm…..? (see Donald Trump)

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