In an interview in the wake of the Brett Ratner debacle, Tom Sherak, the president of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, tells TheWrap that he should have considered the director’s personality more when hiring him to produce the Oscars.
“Did I know he had baggage? Yes, I did,” he said. “I didn’t think about that. Should I have? No argument.”
But, Sherak says, “Now we move on. It’s all we can do.”
He says he’ll let the new producer, Brian Grazer, pick the host, but gives these clues to a new host: He “loves” Tina Fey; is not so hot on Jon Stewart; and as for Billy Crystal being too old for the job? “Bob Hope did the Oscars to his sixties.”
Also: Oscars and Globes Look for Hosts, but Why the Panic?
Do you think there’s been damage to this year’s show?
I would like to hope there is no damage. My hope is that people understand it wasn’t the Academy who said (a gay slur), but an employee. That happens all the time in business. It was dealt with quickly.
I do give you guys credit for moving quickly.
There’s a reason for that. There was no panic at all. He made the first mistake. He tried as quickly as he could to apologize for that mistake. He reached out to the organizations that were infuriated by that.
I talked to him on Sunday. I said to him, "We will meet Monday morning, I need to think about this." On Monday morning I spoke to him and I said, "Here’s my statement, I feel comfortable with this. Don’t do it again. I’m giving you a chance. I have people saying to me I should fire you. I’ll be there for you. Don’t do it again." If I thought it was malicious I would have fired him then.
I didn’t hear about Howard Stern until Monday night.
Also read: Brett Ratner Apologizes for Gay Slur at 'Tower Heist' Screening (Exclusive)
What did you think?
When I started to listen to it – I said, "Oh gee." I was really surprised. We knew he was promoting his movie.
We had an officer’s meeting on Tuesday, and someone said "Brett Ratner’s on the phone." I came out and he said, "I want to resign. The Academy’s too important." I said, "OK. I accept your 
resignation."
What did he say about why he did the Howard Stern show?
He said, "Tom, I can’t explain it. I feel terrible. I’m letting you down." He said, "I don’t know why I did it. I’m going to deal with it." He was trying to protect me, too. He knew the emails I was getting.
What were you thinking in hiring Brett Ratner for the Oscars?
When Brett Ratner came in here to give us ideas, he stayed for 3 ½ hours – and told us all the things he wanted to do.
