Actor Olivia Munn made headlines this week by revealing that she once had to report a “traumatic event” on a movie set, and that she turned down a seven-figure settlement from the studio because she didn’t want to sign a non-disclosure agreement and thereby lose her ability to speak up about the wrongdoing.
During her interview for Monica Lewinsky’s new podcast, “Reclaiming,” “The Predator” actor offered no details about this event, other than to say that it took place around the rise of the #MeToo Movement in late 2017.
But around that time, Munn offered more details about another disturbing event that she experienced on a movie set. The situation involved a lewd act she allegedly was subjected to by Brett Ratner, the once hot-shot film director who was recently selected by Melania Trump to make a documentary for Amazon about preparing to move into the White House and serve as first lady for a second time.
Ratner was “canceled” by Hollywood after Munn and five other women accused him of sexual misconduct in November 2017, but he’s been given a chance to direct again by Donald Trump’s wife. He also has reportedly wrapped filming, after being invited to be her guest in a house at Trump’s Mar-a-Lago estate in Palm Beach.
President-elect Donald Trump kisses Melania Trump before the 60th Presidential Inauguration in the Rotunda of the U.S. Capitol in Washington, Monday, Jan. 20, 2025. (Saul Loeb/Pool photo via AP)
Munn has spoken out multiple times about on-set misbehavior over the years. When she was filming the 2018 movie “Predators,” she went to studio 20th Century Fox to object to having to act opposite a registered sex offender who was a longtime friend of director Shane Black.
And, the year before, at the height of the #MeToo movement, she was one of six woman to come forward in a Los Angeles Times story and accuse Ratner of sexual misconduct. Munn told the Times that she was a still-aspiring actress when she was invited by a friend to visit the set of Ratner’s 2004 film, “After the Sunset.” As a favor, the future “Newsroom” actor agreed to drop off some food in the director’s trailer, having been told he wouldn’t be there.
But Munn told the Times that she was startled to find Ratner inside. She tried to make a quick exit, but she said Ratner implored her to stay.
“He walked out … with his belly sticking out, no pants on, shrimp cocktail in one hand and he was furiously masturbating in the other,” Munn told the Times. “And before I literally could even figure out where to escape or where to look, he ejaculated.”
Munn said she let out a “startled scream” and raced out of the trailer. Munn said she talked to an attorney, but the attorney dissuaded her from going up against a powerful director when she was just a rookie actress. So, so she said she did nothing.
BEVERLY HILLS, CA – APRIL 26: Brett Ratner attends the celebratory party in honor of Wolfgang Puck receiving a star on The Hollywood Walk Of Fame hosted by Gelila Assefa Puck at Spago on April 26, 2017 in Beverly Hills, California. (Photo by Neilson Barnard/Getty Images)
Munn subsequently wrote about the incident in her book, “Suck It, Wonder Woman! The Misadventures of a Hollywood Geek” — but left out Ratner’s name and specific details, according to the Times. During a 2011 TV interview, Ratner seemed to have no problem identifying himself as the unnamed director, as he made disparaging remarks about Munn’s Asian identity (her mother is a Vietnamese). While Ratner denied masturbating in front of Munn, the director, who long liked to flaunt a playboy persona, claimed they dated and had sex a few times.
In her interview with the Times, Munn denied they ever had any kind of “intimate” relationship. She said she later ran into him at an industry event where he told her he ejaculated on magazines that had her photo on the cover.
The allegations coming from Munn, as well as from actor Natasha Henstridge and four other women, led to Ratner effectively being “canceled” in Hollywood, said industry expert and journalist Kim Masters. Henstridge told the Los Angeles Times that Ratner forced her to perform oral sex on him when she was a 19-year-old fashion model.
Through Marty Singer, Ratner’s attorney at the time, Ratner “categorically” denied the women’s allegations.
Ratner’s IMBD page shows that he hasn’t directed a film or TV show since 2015, and he hasn’t produced any project since 2019. Ratner, who also directed sequels in the X-Men franchise, has been trying to get himself “uncanceled,” Masters wrote in Puck.
Somehow, Ratner came to the attention of Melania Trump and landed his first directing gig in 10 years. Puck previously reported that President Donald Trump’s wife was reportedly paid $40 million by Jeff Bezos’ Amazon film and TV studio to secure the rights to her story.
“Ratner appears to have been the first and only choice to direct the Melania film — though, in fairness, how many respected directors would want to make a documentary controlled by this particular subject?” Masters wrote earlier this month.
A source told Masters that Melania Trump installed Ratner in an eight-bedroom house at Mar-a-Lago. Masters said it’s not clear who initiated the idea of bringing Ratner into the Melania Trump project, but the director seems to have various connections to Trump world and was reportedly acquainted with the first lady’s long-time representative, who arranged the deals to publish her memoir, “Melania,” and to secure the licensing rights with Amazon.
A source “with a first-hand view of the goings-on” told Masters that the first lady herself was a fan of Ratner’s work and liked the idea that he was an outcast. In terms of being an outcast, Ratner seems to have some things in common with Melania Trump’s husband, who also was accused by multiple women of sexual misconduct. In 2023, Trump was found liable for sexual abuse by a civil jury in the E. Jean Carroll case.
Filming on the Melania Trump documentary wrapped in mid-February, Masters reported. While the first lady’s reps have insisted on a theatrical release, insiders told Masters that the film’s time in theaters will be brief and limited. At some point, the documentary will stream on Amazon Prime Video. Masters also said there are rumors that Ratner may direct another film about Trump, though Amazon declined to comment.
