Ellen Page Accuses “X-Men: The Last Stand” Director of Homophobia and Sexual Harassment
The Harvey Weinstein scandal has opened a floodgate of sexual assault and harassment allegations in Hollywood. Following separate scandals involving Oscar-winning actor Kevin Spacey and comedian Louis C.K., the latter of whom admitted earlier today that the stories about his misconduct toward women are true, Ellen Page is coming forward with allegations about sexual harassment she says she endured at the hands of director Brett Ratner on the set of X-Men: The Last Stand when she was 18.
Taking to her Facebook page, the now-30-year-old shared her experience with fans in a lengthy post. She alleged that Ratner made sexually inappropriate comments about her to a woman 10 years Page’s senior, saying, “You should f*ck her to make her realize she’s gay.”
“I felt violated when this happened,” she recalled. “I looked down at my feet, didn’t say a word, and watched as no one else did either… He ‘outed’ me with no regard for my wellbeing, an act we all recognize as homophobic.”
She went out to recount how deeply she internalized the incident, particularly at an age when she was struggling with her own sexuality. “This public, aggressive outing left me with longstanding feelings of shame, one of the most destructive results of homophobia,” she wrote.
Page’s costar on the film, Anna Paquin, is sticking up for the Flatliners star, saying that she witnessed the comment in question.
I was there when that comment was made. I stand with you .@EllenPage https://t.co/DEIvKDXeEL
— Anna Paquin (@AnnaPaquin) November 10, 2017
Yet not everyone on set was so supportive. Page said that when she refused to wear a shirt bearing the words, “Team Ratner,” she was reprimanded and told that “she couldn’t talk to him like that.”
Her encounter with the producer was not an isolated career incident. She also alleges separate sexual harassment experiences with others when she was 16, as well as a sexual assault by a grip a few months later. She chose not to name the figures involved, though she alluded to the fact that they are well-known throughout Hollywood. “You know who they are; they’ve been discussed behind closed doors as often as Weinstein was. If I, a person with significant privilege, remain reluctant and at such risk simply by saying a person’s name, what are the options for those who do not have what I have?” she asked in her post.
Earlier this month, six more women, including actresses Olivia Munn and Natasha Henstridge, accused Ratner of sexual harassment and misconduct in the LA Times, allegations he “vehemently disputed” through his lawyer, Martin Singer. “I have represented Mr. Ratner for two decades, and no woman has ever made a claim against him for sexual misconduct or sexual harassment,” the attorney wrote in his 10-page letter to the outlet. “Furthermore, no woman has ever requested or received any financial settlement from my client.”
Ratner has yet to responded to the latest allegations made by Page.
(Photo via Sonia Recchia/Getty)