Page Six is saying that director Brett Ratner has dropped a libel lawsuit he was bringing against a former Endeavor employee who last year had accused him of rape.
Back in October last year, Melanie Kohler accused Brett in a Facebook post of “preying on me as a drunk girl at a club.” She said that she was taken to producer Robert Evan‘s house where Brett “forced himself upon me after I said no and no and no again.” That post didn’t stay up for long, Melanie deleted it after a quick phone call from Brett’s attorney, Marty Singer.
Brett then took things to an 11 and filed a libel lawsuit against her in federal court in Hawaii. The gag was Brett filed this suit on the same day that six other women came forward to accuse him of sexual misconduct. Warner Bros. cut ties with him on the same day. Brett has now dropped that lawsuit.
After Brett sued her, she got an attorney, Roberta Kaplan, who argued that he was trying to intimidate other women who may be thinking of coming forward. A creepy Hollywood director trying to intimidate a woman into bending to his will? I’m shocked! After Kaplan filed a motion to dismiss Brett’s lawsuit against her client and was denied in February, things looked bleak. But not anymore. Now Kaplan is happy AF and made this statement on Tuesday:
“This is a win for women everywhere. We are proud of our client, who stood by her statement and stood up for herself in court, and appreciate Mr. Ratner dismissing this case.”
As for Brett’s lawyers, they were trying to get Melanie to be questioned in a deposition but the judge allowed them only to question her in writing. The legal situation was obviously getting lengthy and confusing and so Brett and his lawyer decided to drop the case. This is where things get more confusing.
Brett’s lawyer originally put out this statement to Deadline:
“Since Ms. Kohler’s attorney has stated that her client’s memories are cloudy and unclear about alleged events from more than a decade ago, Mr. Ratner agreed to dismiss his lawsuit.”
Melanie’s lawyer also at the time put out this statement at the time to Deadline:
“Cases like this are very difficult, especially when the events happened more than a decade ago and memories are cloudy and unclear. The public conversation about this case has become very painful for Melanie. This result will allow Melanie to move on with her life and spend more time with her family.”
But then both parties called Deadline back and changed their statements. Melanie was like: “Uh, what? No, I stand by saying you attacked me,” and so Brett’s lawyer had to retract his previous words and say some others:
“I’m happy that the matter has been resolved.”
That statement sure don’t sound very happy, nor do it sound like the matter was resolved. The law firm also made sure to add that “no money changed hands as part of the settlement.” For a guy whose hands are allegedly always either on his dick, or in a shrimp cocktail, or both, you’d think his lawyer would word that better.
Pic: Instagram.
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