Brett Ratner has resigned from producing the Academy Awards in 2012, Us Weekly can confirm.
The controversial director — who made headlines this week after he made a slew of insensitive comments — issued a statement Tuesday explaining his decision.
"Being asked to help put on the Oscar show was the proudest moment of my career," Ratner, 42, said in a statement. "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."
Tom Sherak, who is president of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, tells The Hollywood Reporter that Ratner "did the right thing for the Academy and for himself."
"Words have meaning, and they have consequences. Brett is a good person, but his comments were unacceptable," Sherak said. "We all hope this will be an opportunity to raise awareness about the harm that is caused by reckless and insensitive remarks, regardless of the intent."
Ratner recently came under fire for saying "rehearsal is for fags" while promoting his new film, Tower Heist. He also embellished stories about the nature of his relationship with Olivia Munn, who he claimed to "bang a few times" on the set of After the Sunset.
According to Ratner, the actress — whose birth name is actually Lisa Olivia Munn — "made up all these stories about me eating shrimp and masturbating in my trailer" in her 2010 collection of personal essays, Suck It, Wonder Woman!: The Misadventures of a Hollywood Geek.
"She's bitter," Ratner reasoned. "It's not the same girl that I met, actually. Olivia and Lisa are two completely different girls, just so you know."
