Brett Ratner Steps Down as Oscar Producer and Issues a Statement

I think it's funny that a lot of blogs are throwing the word "SHOCKER!" in their title and posts for this news as if Brett Ratner's departure from the Oscars is actually surprising. I'm sorry, but I don't find this news that Brett Ratner has stepped down as an Oscar producer surprising at all. This guy barely follows through with anything he gets involved with. I remember at one point he was attached to direct 12 different films, and then eventually ended up making Tower Heist that did poorly at the box office. Why did he decide to step down? Maybe because he can't keep his mouth shut. The guy loves to shove his foot in his mouth. 

THR listed a collection offensive quotes that Ratner has made recently that helped him make his decision of stepping down. Warning these quotes will make you hate Ratner even more... if that's possible.

Brett Ratner on Lindsay Lohan - "I’m a hypochondriac. Before I go all the way, I send the girl to the doctor and check them for everything. My doctor has a test to tell if you’re going to catch something in the future even."

Brett Ratner on Olivia Munn - "I said I banged her three times, which wasn’t true... The problem is I made her look like whore"... "She was hanging out on my set of ‘After the Sunset,’ I banged her a few times…but I forgot her"... "When she came and auditioned for me for a TV show, I forgot her, she got pissed off and she made up all these stories about me eating shrimp and masturbating in my trailer. And my shortcomings. She talked about my shortcomings. I get it. She’s bitter"... "I used to date Olivia Munn.. when she was Lisa. That was the problem. She wasn't Asian back then."

Brett Ratner on his balls  - "I have huge balls."

Brett Ratner on never getting a woman pregnant, including longtime ex-girlfriend Rebecca Gayheart - "I turned 40, and I said, 'Holy s---. I've never gotten a girl pregnant.' And I've been doing this pull-out thing for year and years and years. So I go to a doctor and I said, 'You gotta check my sperm.' He calls me up two days later and says, 'We gotta talk.' .... He said, 'Brett, in 25 years, I've never seen a sperm count like this.' The average load is 40 million sperm, and only 30-40 percent are motile. He said I have 10 times, 480 million sperm, he said, 'If you breathe on a girl, she's going to get pregnant.' ... So now I'm condoms only."

Brett Ratner on oral sex - "I'm probably the best in the world at it"

Brett Ratner on rehearsal - "Rehearsal? What’s that? Rehearsal’s for fags. Rehearsal. Not much."

Brett Ratner apologizing for his stance on rehearsal - "It was a dumb way of expressing myself. Everyone who knows me knows that I don’t have a prejudiced bone in my body. But as a storyteller I should have been much more thoughtful about the power of language and my choice of words.”

No wonder his movies suck, and it looks like we've all been right to think he was a douche bag after all of these years. Now hopefully he never makes another movie again. 

Now here is an Open Letter that Ratner wrote to the Entertainment Industry:

Dear Colleagues,

Over the last few days, I’ve gotten a well-deserved earful from many of the people I admire most 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.

As difficult as the last few days have been for me, they cannot compare to the experience of any young man or woman who has been the target of offensive slurs or derogatory comments. And they pale in comparison to what any gay, lesbian, or transgender individual must deal with as they confront the many inequalities that continue to plague our world.

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. With this in mind, and to all those who understandably feel that apologies are not enough, please know that I will be taking real action over the coming weeks and months in an effort to do everything I can both professionally and personally to help stamp out the kind of thoughtless bigotry I’ve so foolishly perpetuated.

As a first step, I called Tom Sherak this morning and resigned as a producer of the 84th Academy Awards telecast. 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.

I am grateful to GLAAD for engaging me in a dialogue about what we can do together to increase awareness of the important and troubling issues this episode has raised and I look forward to working with them. I am incredibly lucky to have a career in this business that I love with all of my heart and to be able to work alongside so many of my heroes. I deeply regret my actions and I am determined to learn from this experience.

Sincerely,
Brett Ratner

So what do you think? Do you except his apology or do you find the apology offensive as well? He should have said sorry for what he did with X-Men 3 while he was in a apologetic mood, but I don't think I'd forgive him anyway. Thoughts?