Ellen Paige Accuses Brett Ratner of Sexual Harassment
Ellen Page is the latest to come forward as a victim of filmmaker Brett Ratner's sexual misconduct.
Through Facebook, the 30-year-old actress accused Ratner of outing her before the cast and crew of "X-Men: The Last Stand," when she had not even come out to herself. Paige portrayed mutant Kitty Pryde in the film which Ratner directed.
The actress recounts the director telling a woman standing next to him during a cast and crew get-together before the movie was filmed that she should sleep with Paige to make her realize she is gay. Paige was only 18 at that time.
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"I was a young adult who had not yet come out to myself," the actress wrote. "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."
From then on, Paige kept observing Ratner's behavior on set. And in that time, she witnessed other degrading acts the "X-Men" director subjected his crew, particularly women. The actress specifically remembers him calling out a woman who walked by the monitor and making lewd comments about her vagina.
On the same post, the actress revealed several other instances wherein directors tried to ask sexual favors. Some of them happened when she was only 16.
Anna Paquin, who starred alongside Paige as Rogue, took to Twitter to say that she remembers when that comment was made. More importantly, she expressed her support for her co-star.
"X Men: The Last Stand" premiered in 2006. Paige publicly came out as gay in 2014.
