Brett Ratner files lawsuit against rape accuser for defamation

Nov. 2 (UPI) -- After multiple women accused Brett Ratner of sexual abuse in a recent report, the high-powered director and producer filed a lawsuit against a woman who accused him of raping her.

Melanie Kohler, a former employee of the Endeavor Talent Agency, wrote in a Facebook post that Ratner "was a predator and a rapist on at least one night in Hollywood about 12 years ago."

"I'm embarrassed, humiliated, ashamed, and wish I could go back to forgetting it ever happened," she wrote, according to Variety. "But if I do that, if we all do that, then it keeps happening. We have to come forward. I can't be an advocate for women speaking out if I don't speak out, too. ... Brett Ratner raped me. I'm saying his name, I'm saying it publicly. Now at least I can look at myself in the mirror and not feel like part of me is a coward or a hypocrite. I'm standing up and saying this happened to me and it was not ok. Come what may, it is the right thing to do."

Ratner, who has denied the other allegations against him by women interviewed by the Los Angeles Times, responded by filing a defamation lawsuit against Kohler, who now lives in Hawaii.

"Brett Ratner vehemently denies the outrageous derogatory allegations that have been reported about him, and we are confident that his name will be cleared once the current media frenzy dies down and people can objectively evaluate the nature of these claims," his attorney, Martin Singer, said in a statement, according to CNN.

To represent her, Kohler hired Roberta Kaplan, a high-profile attorney who is best-known for arguing and winning the 2013 Supreme Court case that effectively dismantled the 1996 Defense of Marriage Act and paved the way for the legalization of same-sex marriage.

In a statement to USA Today, Kaplan said her client will challenge the lawsuit.

"We always knew that they would pick one woman to victimize further in an effort to bully other women into silence," Kaplan said. "Mr. Ratner and his lawyers can try to erase the truth through threats and intimidation, but courts decide cases based on the facts and the law. So our message to Mr. Ratner and his lawyer is short and simple: See you in court."