Director Brett Ratner has stepped down
as producer of this year's upcoming Academy Awards after using an
anti-gay slur.
Ratner, the director of the upcoming
movie Tower Heist, said during a Q&A following a recent
screening of his film that “rehearsing is for fags.”
In an open letter to the Hollywood
community released late Tuesday, the 42-year-old Ratner reiterated an
earlier apology and resigned as producer of the 84th
annual Academy Awards.
“Over the last few days, I've gotten
a well-deserved earful from many of the people I admire in this
industry expressing their outrage and disappointment over the hurtful
and stupid things I said in a number of recent media appearances. To
them, and to everyone I've hurt and offended, I'd like to apologize
publicly and unreservedly,” Ratner wrote.
“So many artists and craftspeople in
our business are members of the LGBT community, and it pains me
deeply that I may have hurt them. I should have known this all
along, but at least I know it now: words do matter. Having love in
your heart doesn't count for much if what comes out of your mouth is
ugly and bigoted.”
The Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against
Defamation (GLAAD) had called Ratner's initial apology
“insufficient.”