Brett Ratner out as Oscar producer

Telling an audience that "rehearsal is for fags" might not have been the wisest move. Neither was an appearance on the Howard Stern show, when he talked about his notorious sex life (he sends women to his doctor to make sure they don't have any sexually transmitted diseases "before I go all the way" with them). Class act, eh? He offered an apology for the "fag" comment, but the damage apparently had been done. He called Tom Sherak, president of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts & Sciences, and resigned as producer of the Oscar telecast. He also released a statement that reads in part (via THR):

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.

For some in Hollywood, it's a confirmation that Ratner might not have been the best choice to produce the high-profile show. From the LAT's Patrick Goldstein:

It's hardly a news flash that Ratner is a crass hustler who's spent his entire career in a Sammy Glick-like rush to get ahead, often behaving with all of the grace and elan of a character out of "Entourage." Ratner is loyal to his friends and a big contributor to charity, but he often acts like an over-entitled bar-mitzvah boy, running amok at his afterparty. If the academy had done any homework at all, it would've learned that when a woman reporter from the Jewish Journal interviewed Ratner for a cover story a few years ago, he managed to make a fool out of himself by repeatedly hitting on her, something she found so immature that she put it right in the lead of the story.