Brett Ratner is Directing Again and Time’s Up is Pissed About It
Does “cancel culture” have any actual power? Ask Justine Sacco. But does it have any power to stop the rich and famous? No, not really. Ellen DeGeneres has been cancelled by both sides of the political spectrum and she still lives in a mansion with her hot wife who’s 15 years younger than her (back of the net). And I’ve heard more from Gina Carano since Disney announced they won’t be bringing her back for any more guest spots than I did during the entirety of The Mandalorian’s first season.
When Time’s Up and the #MeToo movement launched, critics referred to it as a witch hunt that was going to end people’s careers with unproven allegations of sexual misconduct. That hasn’t really panned out, the only people to suffer any consequences have been Harvey Weinstein and Bill Cosby, who were both convicted by a jury of their peers. Lori Laughlin has suffered more consequences in Hollywood than most people accused of wrongdoing in the wake of #MeToo.
Rose McGowan, one of the first people to publicly accuse Harvey Weinstein of sexual misconduct, essentially called the group a bunch of cowards with no ability or inclination to effect real change.
Brett Ratner is directing a biopic about Milli Vanilli he’s been working on for about a decade, his first directing job since being accused of sexual harassment by several women, including Olivia Munn.
Time’s Up issued a strongly-worded statement essentially asking why people weren’t listening to them. Via Variety:
“TIME’S UP was born out of the national reckoning on workplace sexual harassment,” said Tina Tchen, president and CEO of the Time’s Up Foundation in response to news that Ratner is set to direct the upcoming movie. “Our movement is a product of countless courageous acts by many survivors, including those who spoke out about what they endured at the hands of Brett Ratner.”
“Not only did Ratner never acknowledge or apologize for the harm he caused, but he also filed lawsuits in an attempt to silence the voices of survivors who came forward – a tactic right out of the predator’s playbook. You don’t get to go away for a couple years and then resurface and act like nothing happened. We have not – and will not – forget. And Millennium Media shouldn’t either. There should be no comeback. #wewontforgetbrett.”
Apparently, you do get to go away for a few years and then come back like nothing happened, especially if you make money. I mean, Ratner directed arguably the worst non-Wolverine: Origins X-Men movie and he’s still getting work, did we really think allegedly sexually harassing multiple women would stop him? It’s not like he hired someone to help him navigate the college admissions process who turned out to HBO be entirely on the up-and-up.