Brett Ratner filed a defamation suit in Hawaii federal court against Melanie Kohler on Wednesday, who wrote a Facebook post referring to him as a “rapist.”
The suit comes on the heels of a Los Angeles Times report that details the allegations from six women that Ratner acted inappropriately, either sexually harassing or assaulting them, Variety reports.
Actresses Olivia Munn and Natasha Henstridge are among the women. Kohler was not named or quoted in the report, but instead posted her story more than a week previous. Ratner’s suit describes the social media post as libel.
“Commencing on or about October 20, 2017, Defendant recklessly and/or intentionally posted a statement on her Facebook page claiming that ‘Brett Ratner raped [her];’ ‘Ratner was a rapist on at least one night in Hollywood about 12 years ago’; and Ratner ‘preyed on me as a drunk girl [and] forced himself upon me,’” the suit reads.
The lawsuit alleges that the statements were published falsely and with the intent to damage Ratner’s reputation. The director-producer is seeking general, special, and punitive damages, claiming that the post has caused him extreme distress and that it has harmed his personal and professional reputations.
The allegations against Ratner are some of the latest in a firestorm of accusations that were triggered by a New York Times report detailing eight settlements made by producer Harvey Weinstein with women who had accused him of sexual harassment. Warner Bros. Pictures have also severed ties with Ratner.
This story first appeared in Variety
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