Despite apology, Oscar producer Brett Ratner suffering backlash for his “rehearsing is for fags” slur

The 2012 Academy Awards are four months away but this year’s producer, Brett Ratner, is already a public relations nightmare.

I posted yesterday about Ratner’s remark that “rehearsing is for fags” after a screening of his film Tower Heist at L.A.’s Arclight Cinemas on Friday. He apologized after the remark surfaced publicly.

The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences President Tom Sherak has told Deadline: “His remarks were inappropriate. He said it best in his apology, that his comments were dumb and insensitive. When you think of our community, it went against all the beliefs of the creative community we represent. He knew it was wrong and he issued that response as quickly as any human being ever has. The bottom line is, this won’t and can’t happen again. It will not happen again. He apologized and we will move forward. How do I know this? I’ve known this man for a very long time. He has many friends who are members of the gay and lesbian community. The apology he gave I truly believe comes from his heart. If I didn’t believe it, I would do something about it. This is about integrity and honoring the Academy Awards, but we all make mistakes and I believe he didn’t mean it.”

In another development, it has been learned that Ratner has not hired Bruce Vilanch, the chief comic voice of the Oscars for the last two decades, for this year’s show. When asked by TheWrap if he was going to work on the show this year, Vilanch replied by email, “Guess not.”

Ratner told the site that while the writing staff for Eddie Murphy had been selected, writers for the rest of the show (banter for presenters, etc) had not. So, it seems possible that Vilanch could still be approached to participate.