Director Brett Ratner Drops Suit Against Rape Accuser

HOLLYWOOD, CA — Director Brett Ratner has dropped his defamation lawsuit against Melanie Kohler, the woman who last year posted on her Facebook account that he had raped her, it was reported Wednesday.

"This is a win for women everywhere. We are proud of our client, who stood by her statement and stood up for herself in court, and appreciate Mr. Ratner dismissing this case," Kohler's lawyer, Roberta Kaplan, said in a statement Tuesday evening, the Los Angeles Times reported.

Early reports of the news from Deadline included a statement from Ratner's lawyer, Marty Singer, saying the resolution had come as a result of Kohler's memories being "cloudy and unclear about alleged events from more than a decade ago."

Within hours, however, Singer's original statement had been removed from the Deadline story, replaced with one from Ratner in which the filmmaker said he was "pleased that this matter is resolved." Ratner also gave the same statement to The Times on Tuesday evening.

In a Facebook post last fall, Kohler accused the "Rush Hour" director of raping her more than a decade ago -- an account that came just days before The Times published allegations made by six other women accusing the producer of sexual misconduct.

Ratner then sued the former marketing executive for defamation in federal court in Hawaii. Kohler was the first woman to be sued by her accuser during the #MeToo movement that arose in the aftermath of the Harvey Weinstein scandal. She continued to stand by her story in interviews in many outlets, including The Times.

On her Facebook page Tuesday evening, Kohler, whose profile photo is a shot of her posing beside a #TimesUp logo, expressed relief that the legal charges had been dropped and the statements amended.

"Today was insane but the truth finally made it out," she wrote. "I am very grateful to move on with my life."

Several other women last November accused Ratner of sexual misconduct.

In interviews with the Los Angeles Times, actress Natasha Henstridge and five other women accused Ratner of sexual harassment and misconduct in private homes, on movie sets or at industry events.

Ratner, through his lawyer, denied all the allegations, which included forcing women to perform sex acts and pleasuring himself in front of them.

Ratner had become one of Hollywood's most powerful players, directing, producing or financing dozens of box-office hits, including "Rush Hour," "X-Men: The Last Stand," "The Revenant" and "Horrible Bosses," according to The Times.

Ratner issued a statement last November in response to the accusations, saying he was "choosing to personally step away from all Warner Bros.- related activities."

"I don't want to have any possible negative impact to the studio until these personal issues are resolved," he said then.

Los Angeles County prosecutors, meanwhile, have announced they are declining to file criminal charges against a trio of celebrities who were accused of sexual assault -- Kevin Spacey for an alleged 1992 assault in West Hollywood, Steven Seagal from an allegation dating back to 1993 and Anthony Anderson for allegations that arose within the past year.

Prosecutors Tuesday cited the statute of limitations involving the investigations into the allegations against Spacey and Seagal, noting that "an analysis of the strengths and weaknesses of the evidence is not warranted."

But in the allegations against Anderson, prosecutors said the alleged victim "declined to be interviewed," and therefore there is a "lack of sufficient evidence to assess the strengths and weaknesses of the allegations."

The District Attorney's Office confirmed last month it was reviewing another potential case against Spacey, which was presented to the office by the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department. He is also under investigation in London.

The District Attorney's Office also confirmed last month that it was reviewing another potential case against Seagal that was presented Aug. 8. That case is still under review, according to the District Attorney's Office.

Seagal was accused by a woman named Regina Simons, who claimed the actor raped her in 1993 when she was 18. He has also vehemently denied any wrongdoing, taking to social media to blast allegations raised by Simons and other actresses as a "modern day witch hunt."

Anderson had been accused of assault by a woman who catered an event organized by the actor, according to the celebrity news site The Blast. He strongly denied the allegation.

City News Service; BEVERLY HILLS, CA - JANUARY 16: Bret Ratner attends the FOX Golden Globe after party held at the Beverly Hilton on January 16, 2006 in Beverly Hills, California. (Photo by Stephen Shugerman/Getty Images)