A woman who is being sued by director Brett Ratner for defamation after she claimed he raped her says he is attempting to silence her and other women by pursing the litigation.
In a court filing on Monday in the case being heard in Hawaii, attorneys for Melanie Kohler, 39, said: ‘If wealthy, powerful plaintiffs like Mr. Ratner can burden victims of sexual assault like Ms. Kohler based on nothing more than their own say-so, then our fundamental First Amendment protections will offer no sanctuary to those who need them most.’
Her attorneys have also accused Ratner, 48, of trying to ‘circumvent’ California laws by suing Kohler in Hawaii, despite her claims originating in California, according to the Los Angeles Times.
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Melanie Kohler, 39 (pictured) says director Brett Ratner is trying to silence her and other women by pursuing a defamation suit against her after she claimed he raped her
Ratner (pictured) has denied Kohler’s allegations that he raped her over a decade ago
‘He has effectively engaged in “defendant-shopping” by choosing to sue the only woman accusing him of misconduct who does not live in California,’ they wrote.
Kohler is being represented by some of Hawaii’s top litigators including former attorney general of Hawaii David M. Louie and Supreme Court litigator Roberta Kaplan.
They argue the case should be tried in California since that is where the alleged rape took place, and the case has further implications there as well.
Kohler alleged the Hollywood heavyweight raped her 12 years ago and first made her claims public in a Facebook post, a week before six other women came forward to the LA Times with their own allegations of sexual misconduct against Ratner.
Ratner has denied raping Kohler and has called her accusations ‘false, fabricated, and fictional’ in his lawsuit.
U.S. District Judge Helen Gillmor is scheduled to hear the defamation case on Thursday.
During an interview with Good Morning America in November Kohler said: ‘I stand by my claim.’
She said she felt the need to speak out because ‘when everything feels like it’s stacked against you, I want women to have the courage to speak out anyway.’
Kohler also said that while the incident happened over a decade ago she is still reminded of the alleged assault every day, especially as new allegations are being revealed about other major players in the entertainment industry.
‘It’s not something that you ever want to tell anybody… it makes people look at you differently,’ said Kohler.
Melanie Kohler (above) spoke out for the first time to Good Morning America in November after she first claimed on Facebook that she was raped by Ratner
She said she stood by her claim, despite Ratner and his lawyer Martin Singer (above in October) filing a defamation lawsuit against her in Hawaii
‘Or at least, that’s the way it has been. I’m hoping that the culture is changing.’
Kohler said she had just started ‘the healing process’ after sharing her Facebook post on October 20 when she received a call from Martin Singer, Ratner’s lawyer.
‘He said that he had seen my Facebook post, and that if I didn’t take it down immediately he had authorization from Brett Ratner to sue me immediately,’ said Kohler.
‘I was scared and shocked. I had never spoken to a lawyer before.’
She took the post down, but still wound up being sued by Ratner.
The complaint for damages, which was submitted to the US District Court in Hawaii, stated that Kohler made ‘deliberately false and malicious accusations’ in an October 20 Facebook post.
Kohler wrote in the post that: ‘Brett Ratner raped me and was a rapist on at least one night in Hollywood about 12 years ago and preyed on me as a drunk girl [and] forced himself upon me.’
Ratner says that Kohler’s statement is ‘entirely false, fabricated, and fictional’ in his compliant, which asks for damages in an amount to be determined at trial.
The director’s counsel on the island, Eric Seitz, is asking for the damages to cover the ‘injuries to his personal and professional reputations’ that his client ‘suffered’ as well as his ’emotional distress, worry, anger, and anxiety.’
Ratner said at the time he was stepping away from his production company, RatPac Entertainment, following the claims of sexual harassment made against him by six women in the Los Angeles Times article.
He said he does not want to have any possible negative impact to the studio until what he called ‘personal issues’ are resolved.
He did not reference the allegations specifically.
In 2013, Warner Brothers announced that they would be entering into a four-year contract with RatPac Entertainment worth an estimated $450 million, which is now being reevaluated in the wake of sexual harassment and assault claims being made against the director.
RatPac was launched in 2012 by Ratner and Australian business partner James Packer, who was a neophyte in the film industry at the time and newly single following his split and later divorce from second wife Erica Packer.