Ellen Page Speaks Out About ‘Degrading’ and Homophobic Abuse from Brett Ratner
Last week, the LA Times reported on multiple allegations of sexual harassment against director Brett Ratner. And as more and more women in Hollywood have been speaking out about harassment and worse in the industry, Ellen Page has now shared her story about behavior from Ratner she witnessed.
Page came out as gay in a moving 2014 speech, but reveals that when she was 18 (prior to filming X-Men: The Last Stand), Ratner said something that shocked her:
“You should fuck her to make her realize she’s gay.” He said this about me during a cast and crew “meet and greet” before we began filming, X Men: The Last Stand. I was eighteen years old. He looked at a woman standing next to me, ten years my senior, pointed to me and said: “You should fuck her to make her realize she’s gay.” He was the film’s director, Brett Ratner.
I was a young adult who had not yet come out to myself. I knew I was gay, but did not know, so to speak. I felt violated when this happened. I looked down at my feet, didn’t say a word and watched as no one else did either. This man, who had cast me in the film, started our months of filming at a work event with this horrific, unchallenged plea. He “outed” me with no regard for my well-being, an act we all recognize as homophobic. I proceeded to watch him on set say degrading things to women. I remember a woman walking by the monitor as he made a comment about her “flappy pussy”.
UPDATE –– 2:45 pm ET: Co-star Anna Paquin tweeted that she heard the comment at the time too and she stands with Page
I was there when that comment was made. I stand with you .@EllenPage https://t.co/DEIvKDXeEL
— Anna Paquin (@AnnaPaquin) November 10, 2017
Page also describes an altercation she had with Ratner when he was “pressuring” her to wear a “Team Ratner” shirt. She says she told him at the time “I am not on your team” and ended up being reprimanded by producers later.
And she even makes some disturbing revelations about behavior she was subject to when she was only 16:
When I was sixteen a director took me to dinner (a professional obligation and a very common one). He fondled my leg under the table and said, “You have to make the move, I can’t.” I did not make the move and I was fortunate to get away from that situation. It was a painful realization: my safety was not guaranteed at work. An adult authority figure for whom I worked intended to exploit me, physically. I was sexually assaulted by a grip months later. I was asked by a director to sleep with a man in his late twenties and to tell them about it. I did not. This is just what happened during my sixteenth year, a teenager in the entertainment industry.
Page also makes a broader point about the privilege she has compared to marginalized voices who “have been left behind.”
You can read her full Facebook post here:
[image via Kathy Hutchins / Shutterstock.com]
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