US film director Brett Ratner accused of harassment by 6 women

Six women have accused filmmaker Brett Ratner of sexual harassment or misconduct, according to a report in the Los Angeles Times on Wednesday, in a widening scandal over alleged sexual misdeeds in Hollywood’s entertainment industry.

Ratner’s attorney strongly denied what he called the “outrageous, derogatory allegations.”

Ratner, 48, is one of Hollywood’s most successful directors and producers whose films include X-Men: The Last Stand and Horrible Bosses.

Natasha Henstridge

In the article, Henstridge claims when she was a 19-year-old fashion model, Ratner allegedly touched himself and forced her to perform oral sex.

“He strong-armed me in a real way. He physically forced himself on me,” she said. “At some point, I gave in and he did his thing.

Olivia Munn

Munn claims that in 2004 on the set of a film, Ratner had allegedly masturbated in front of her in his trailer when she delivered a meal to him.

She told the LA Times he boasted at a party of ejaculating on magazine covers featuring her image.

"I've made specific, conscientious choices not to work with Brett Ratner,” Munn told the LA Times.

Katharine Towne 

Towne claims during a 2005 party in LA, Ratner had followed her into the bathroom.

“He started to come on to me in a way that was so extreme. I think it’s pretty aggressive to go in the bathroom with someone you don’t know and close the door,” Towne told the LA Times.

Towne claims she told Ratner, “I don’t even know what you want with me. I’m kind of chubby right now.” 

But she said Ratner replied, “I like ’em chubby sometimes."

Jaime Ray Newman

Newman claims while on an an Air Canada flight in 2005, Ratner swapped seats so he could be next to her.

She said Ratner began loudly describing sex acts he wanted to perform on her in explicit detail. 

He also allegedly showed her nude photos of his then-girlfriend.

“He was graphically describing giving me oral sex and how he was addicted to it,” she told the LA Times.

Eri Sasaki

Sasaki told the LA Times during the filming of Rush Hour 2 as an extra, her role required her to wear a skimpy outfit that exposed her midriff. 

She claims Ratner ran his index finger down her bare stomach and asked if she wanted to go into a bathroom with him. When she said no, she recalled Ratner saying, "Don't you want to be famous?"

Ratner allegedly tried again a day or two later, but she rejected him again.

Jorina King 

While working as an extra in one of Ratner's films, King told the LA Times he plucked her from a crowd of female extras and said he later wanted to discuss giving her dialogue.

A day later he allegedly asked her to come to his trailer and told her he needed to see her breasts. 

King told the newspaper she rejected his request and hid in a restroom. 

“I figured if I could stay out of his eyesight, if I could stay away from him, he will forget about me and he will choose someone else, and that is exactly what happened."

Movie studio Warner Bros, with whom Ratner’s production company has a co-financing pact, said on Wednesday it was “aware of the allegations in the LA Times and are reviewing that situation,” spokesman Jack Horner said.

Ratner is the latest famous name in the entertainment business to be accused of widespread sexual misconduct in the past month.

More than 50 women have made sexual harassment or assault claims against Hollywood producer Harvey Weinstein.

Kevin Spacey

Actor Kevin Spacey has been accused of making sexual advances  on a then 14-year-old Anthony Rapp in 1986.

After Rapp's account, US filmmaker Tony Montana claims he was groped by Spacey in a Los Angeles bar in 2003. 

Montana said he suffered with PTSD for 6 months following the incident.

Earlier on Wednesday, Mexican actor Roberto Cavazos, who worked at a London theatre where Spacey was an artistic director between 2004 and 2015, said he had encounters with the Hollywood star at the time “that verged on what you could call harassment.”

“There are many of us who have a ‘Kevin Spacey story’,” Cavazos wrote in a Facebook post in Spanish.

“It seems that we only needed to be men under 30 years old for Mr Spacey to feel free to touch us,” he wrote.