Brett Ratner sues woman for libel over rape allegations

Melanie Kohler alleged the director 'was a rapist on at least one night in Hollywood'

Brett Ratner (Getty)

Brett Ratner has started the process of suing one of the woman who made sexual assault allegations against him.

Writing on Facebook, Melanie Kohler claimed Ratner raped her about 12 years ago when she was drunk.

Kohler made the social media post a week before the Los Angeles Times published their story in which six women accused the director of sexual harassment and misconduct.

Deadline has published the complaint which Ratner filed in Hawaii federal court. The plaintiff calls the Kohler’s social media post “deliberately fall and malicious” calling the statement “false, fabricated, and fictional.”

Ratner seeks special and general damages, punitive damages, reimbursement of court costs, and “further and additional relief” the court deems fit.

The complaint was filed on the 1 November, the same day the LA Times report was published. One of the six women to come forward against Ratner has been X-Men star Olivia Munn, who says Ratner masturbated in front of her while she visited the set of 2004 film After the Sunset.

The director has since stepped away from all further Warner Bros. projects. Ratner, through his attorney Martin Singer, has "categorically" and individually disputes the women's accounts.

"I have represented Mr. Ratner for two decades, and no woman has ever made a claim against him for sexual misconduct or sexual harassment," Singer said in a 10-page letter to The Times. "Furthermore, no woman has ever requested or received any financial settlement from my client.

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