Eddie Murphy and Brett Ratner Step Down From Academy Awards Presentation — Bros Before Homos, Apparently.

To paraphrase David Spade, "Look children, TWO falling stars! Quick make a wish!"

Well, well, well.  If y'all haven't heard, director Brett Ratner who had signed on as producer of the 84th Academy Awards, due to his stupid homophobic slur on the Howard Stern Show on SiriusXM has stepped down (?) as producer of the upcoming Academy Awards.

Ratner, who is known for being a bit of an a-hole in the industry.  Wasn't he on Entourage portraying, well, himself?  I remember being irritated at his arrogance even then.  So now Eddie Murphy has quit as the host of the Oscars in alliance for Ratner's resignation.  Oh, did I mention that Murphy is in the Ratner-directed movie Tower Heist?

via THR:

"It was a dumb way of expressing myself," he said in a statement. "Everyone who knows me knows that I don't have a prejudiced bone in my body. But as a storyteller I should have been much more thoughtful about the power of language and my choice of words.

"..."I called Tom Sherak this morning and resigned as a producer of the 84th Academy Awards telecast. Being asked to help put on the Oscar show was the proudest moment of my career. But as painful as this may be for me, it would be worse if my association with the show were to be a distraction from the Academy and the high ideals it represents," he stated. (Read full statement below.)

Dumbass Ratner

Dear Colleagues,Over the last few days, I’ve gotten a well-deserved earful from many of the people I admire most in this industry expressing their outrage and disappointment over the hurtful and stupid things I said in a number of recent media appearances. To them, and to everyone I’ve hurt and offended, I’d like to apologize publicly and unreservedly.

As difficult as the last few days have been for me, they cannot compare to the experience of any young man or woman who has been the target of offensive slurs or derogatory comments. And they pale in comparison to what any gay, lesbian, or transgender individual must deal with as they confront the many inequalities that continue to plague our world.

So many artists and craftspeople in our business are members of the LGBT community, and it pains me deeply that I may have hurt them. I should have known this all along, but at least I know it now: words do matter. Having love in your heart doesn’t count for much if what comes out of your mouth is ugly and bigoted. With this in mind, and to all those who understandably feel that apologies are not enough, please know that I will be taking real action over the coming weeks and months in an effort to do everything I can both professionally and personally to help stamp out the kind of thoughtless bigotry I’ve so foolishly perpetuated.

As a first step, I called Tom Sherak this morning and resigned as a producer of the 84th Academy Awards telecast. Being asked to help put on the Oscar show was the proudest moment of my career. But as painful as this may be for me, it would be worse if my association with the show were to be a distraction from the Academy and the high ideals it represents.

I am grateful to GLAAD for engaging me in a dialogue about what we can do together to increase awareness of the important and troubling issues this episode has raised and I look forward to working with them. I am incredibly lucky to have a career in this business that I love with all of my heart and to be able to work alongside so many of my heroes. I deeply regret my actions and I am determined to learn from this experience.

Sincerely, Brett Ratner

You know, I call bullshit on this, and I'm probably not the only one who feels this way.  I don't even believe Ratner wrote his little Cover His Ass Letter of Apology.  It's just a gut feeling, and doesn't hold up in court...but I tend to trust my instincts.

Once an arrogant jerk, always an arrogant (and homophobic) jerk.  Oh, and guess what else?  I'm not going to see Tower Heist.  Eddie Murphy is also widely known for his extreme homophobic "comedic" routines.  You guys can't have it both ways; if Mel Gibson was reamed a new a-hole for his horrible racist/sexist/anit-semitic rants, (and rightly so), why do Ratner and Murphy think they are above reproach? That's it dudes--stick together for the sake of making some bucks off that movie of yours.

So now who's gonna fill in for these two?  I vote for Alec Baldwin minus Steve Martin, who has become such a snip the past 10 years or so.  His envy of Alec is coming in loud and clear.  I loved Jon Stewart as host, but I'd be surprised if he would be asked to return.

Thoughts?