Grey’s Anatomy writer Krista Vernoff hits out at Ratner

Grey’s Anatomy showrunner Krista Vernoff (pictured) has hit back at Brett Ratner after he denied several sexual assault claims

Grey’s Anatomy showrunner Krista Vernoff has hit back at Brett Ratner after he denied several sexual assault claims. 

Vernoff, responding specifically to an article published in the LA Times on Sunday, has offered point-by-point commentary on each aspect of the producer’s denials, which were delivered through his attorney. 

She attacked them as inane, ‘harmful myths’ so ‘absurd’ that the make her feel like she ‘might have to scream’. 

Writing a column for the Hollywood Reporter, Vernoff also wondered why the Times had printed responses by Ratner at all, deciding that it must be a legal obligation rather than a commitment to objectivity. 

She said some of the defenses given by Ratner’s attorney, Martin Singer, damaged ‘the men and the women and particularly the young people who read The Los Angeles Times’. 

The first defense she attacks is the claim that Ratner is ‘not the only heterosexual man hitting on women on that set’. 

She writes that because Ratner has ‘all the power’ on set, it’s not the ‘healthy and natural behavior’ that hitting on women at a bar would represent. 

She also says that he is not accused of merely hitting on women, explaining: ‘He’s accused of offering speaking roles to background actors in exchange for sexual favors. Totally different.’

The first defense she attacks is the claim that Ratner is 'not the only heterosexual man hitting on women on that set'. Pictured: Brett Ratner 

The first defense she attacks is the claim that Ratner is ‘not the only heterosexual man hitting on women on that set’. Pictured: Brett Ratner 

The next point she attacks relates to the idea that the film on which a sexual assault claim was made was already cast and that therefore Ratner could not have given a speaking role to someone in exchange for sexual favors. 

Vernoff dismisses the notion, writing that she recently needed to add a new speaking part for a scene in Grey’s Anatomy. 

When she mentioned that need, she says, many extras threw up their hands.

She explains: ‘Now, imagine that as I studied those eager faces, I approached one of them and said that if she followed me into the bathroom and got naked or showed me her breasts or touched my genitals, she could have the upgrade.

‘That’s the accusation against Ratner by multiple women.’ 

Vernoff then addresses a denial from Singer regarding claims made by Rush Hour 3 actress Sarah Shahi that she was sexually assaulted by Ratner. 

Ratner’s attorney said there were ‘overwhelming contradictions’ in the claim because Shahi had sent emails to Ratner containing kisses and hugs. 

Vernoff returned that ‘when women are dealing with powerful men who they know to be abusive, the first instinct, often, is to keep them on our sides’.

Olivia Munn claimed that Ratner masturbated in front of her in his trailer in 2004

Ratner has vehemently denied both allegations

Olivia Munn claimed that Ratner masturbated in front of her in his trailer in 2004, and then in 2010 approached her at a party and told her he ‘came all over’ magazines with her on the cover

Her final attack on Ratner is in relation to claims that he and his friend invited models to his house before sexually assaulting them. 

Singer said the claims do not make sense because there were many other people present at these parties and none of them apparently complained. 

Vernoff writes: ‘LOL. No, seriously. LOLOLOL.’

She then explains that she has been at many Hollywood parties and seen many things – including a ‘very recognizable director’ receiving oral sex in front of guests – and yet everyone just looked away, suggesting the same happened with Ratner. 

She concluded: ‘It should go without saying that we should not expect that by accepting an invitation to a social gathering in this town or any other, we should also expect to have genitalia thrust into our mouths against our will.’

Read more at DailyMail.co.uk