Brett Ratner accuser fights his libel suit

One of the accusers of Hollywood filmmaker Brett Ratner has filed a motion to dismiss his libel suit against her.

The legal team of Melanie Kohler, a former talent agency employee who had accused the Rush Hour director of rape, filed a motion in the federal court in Hawaii — that’s where Kohler is based — seeking a dismissal of Ratner’s libel suit, filed in November.

“He has filed this defamation lawsuit with a single purpose: to silence and intimidate Kohler and other women like her from coming forward with stories of grave sexual mistreatment at his hands,” stated the document filed in Hawaii, according to the website Deadline.

Ratner is one of the numerous men in Hollywood who’ve been accused of raping, molesting, or sexually harassing women, including some female actors who went on to become A-listers of the industry. All of these allegations have exploded following a New York Times report in late 2017 that exposed decades of sexual misconduct by high-profile movie producer Harvey Weinstein.

In their motion, Kohler’s lawyers argued that Ratner’s suit consisted of little more than “threadbare, conclusory allegations”, which failed to meet even the minimum requirements for a libel complaint.

Ratner in his suit claimed that Kohler had defamed him in a Facebook post, accusing him of rape, but removed it afterwards.

Kohler’s lawyers also contended that the suit should be dismissed under California’s anti-SLAPP statute. “Here, Mr Ratner’s lawsuit threatens to chill speech that is a part of an important and historic public discussion on sexual assault and rape in Hollywood,” said the lawyers, claiming that Ratner has been accused by more than a dozen women.

THE LEGAL TEAM FOR RAPE ACCUSER MELANIE KOHLER HAS SAID THAT BRETT RATTNER’S LIBEL SUIT AGAINST HER, FILED IN NOVEMBER AFTER HER FACEBOOK POST, THREATENED TO ‘CHILL SPEECH’

PHOTO: SHUTTERSTOCK Rush Hour director Brett Ratner has been accused by several women of sexual misconduct, and even rape