Eddie Murphy will no longer host next year’s Academy Awards program, and his colleague Brett Ratner will no longer produce it!
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| Brett Ratner |
Murphy’s decision to pull out of hosting duties came 1 day after Ratner was forced to resign, due to a gay slur he made during a recent interview.
Ratner, who directed Murphy’s new comedy film “Tower Heist,” was asked if he rehearses with his actors before shooting a scene. Unbelievably, Ratner replied, “Rehearsing is for f*gs,” prompting immediate condemnation from the Hollywood community, many of whom are gay, lesbian, or bisexual. Now, Ratner finds himself in a heated mess with GLAAD and Murphy believes he should not proceed as host without his creative partner.
Ratner issued the following statement after his resignation:
“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.”
Murphy then followed Ratner with a statement of his own:
“First and foremost I want to say that I completely understand and support each party’s decision with regard to a change of producers for this year’s Academy Awards ceremony. I was truly looking forward to being a part of the show that our production team and writers were just starting to develop, but I’m sure that the new production team and host will do an equally great job.”
No word yet on who will replace Murphy during the annual Oscars telecast next spring.
