Brett Ratner was an interesting choice to produce the Oscars this year. The director of "Rush Hour" isn't exactly known for his fabulous stage productions. He's more known for making homosexual slurs and publicly naming the women he has slept with, or in his parlance, "banged".
He quit after there was a bit of a firestorm about those remarks. Probably a good thing. I'm guessing the audience in the theater that night wouldn't be too happy with someone that uses homosexual slurs and names his conquests. Know your audience, dude.