Out actress Ellen Page accused director Brett Ratner of outing her on the job when she was 18-years-old.
Page said that she attended a reception for the people working on X-Men: The Last Stand before filming began. The film, directed by Ratner, was released in 2006, a year before the film Juno was released and Page became a household name, and years before Page came out in a 2014 speech to HRC.
“I was a young adult who had not yet come out to myself,” Page wrote on Facebook, referring to when she was acting in X-Men. “I knew I was gay, but did not know, so to speak.”
During the reception, Page wrote that Ratner was talking to a woman who was ten years older than her and standing next to her. He pointed to Page and said, “You should fuck her to make her realize she’s gay.”
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“I looked down at my feet, didn’t say a word and watched as no one else did either,” Page wrote. “This man, who had cast me in the film, started our months of filming at a work event with this horrific, unchallenged plea.”
Anna Paquin, who played “Rogue” in the same X-Men movie, said that she heard the comment too.
I was there when that comment was made. I stand with you .@EllenPage https://t.co/DEIvKDXeEL
— Anna Paquin (@AnnaPaquin) November 10, 2017
Page said it was just the first example of Ratner’s abusive behavior at work. She said he also made a comment about a co-worker’s “flappy pussy.” She said she was also castigated when she refused to wear a “Team Ratner” T-shirt.
Ratner has been accused by several other actresses of sexual harassment, assault, and rape. A former employee at a talent agency said that she was raped by Ratner, and he is now suing her for libel. Actress Olivia Munn said that he masturbated in front of her in a trailer on the set of a film in 2004.
