Jon Peters not a certified producer of A Star is Born, confirms PGA, as sexual assault charges resurface

The Producers Guild of America has declared that  Jon Peters would not be eligible for PGA’s Darryl F. Zanuck Award as the top feature film for A Star is Born , for not being a part of the certified producing team, Variety reported . [caption id=“attachment_5168041” align=“alignnone” width=“825”] Jon Peters (left); A still from A Star is Born. Facebook/@TodaInEntertainmentHistory[/caption] Bradley Cooper’s directorial debut A Star Is Born featured in its producers’ list the name of Jon Peters, the controversial studio head who produced the 1976 version of A Star Is Born starring his then-girlfriend, Barbra Streisand. Peters was reportedly involved in aiding the team put together the 2018 version, starring Lady Gaga , apart from Cooper. However, according to the PGA, Peters did not perform as many functions of a producer to earn the Producer Mark. This comes in the wake of a detailed repor t published by Jezebel underscoring the various sexual harassment cases against the producer in the years between 1996 to 2008. Warner Bros., which is slated to release the film on 5 October, issued a statement stating they were contractually obligated to call Peters a producer: “Jon Peters’ attachment to this property goes as far back as 1976. Legally, we had to honor the contractual obligation in order to make this film.” Since Peters is also not a PGA member, he would likely not be eligible to accept the Academy Award for best picture, if the film were nominated for the said category. Peters, who has produced, along with 1976’s A Star Is Born, Caddyshack, The Color Purple, Batman, and 2006’s Superman Returns, and acted as an executive producer for Rain Man, had been sued for sexual harassment for at least five times.  In 2006, Peters’ former assistant Shelly Morita filed a lawsuit  alleging that she was subjected to sexual harassment during the production of Superman Returns. While Peters denied the allegations,  a Los Angeles jury in 2011 ordered him to pay Morita $3.3 million in damages.  Peters was given the second producing credit in Warner’s official press release for A Star Is Born after Bill Gerber and before Cooper, Todd Phillips, and Lynette Howell Taylor. In an interview with The Hollywood Reporter, Gerber said that Peters had made a significant contribution towards the film’s commencement.  He said, “There were a lot of complicated deals on A Star Is Born, a lot of heavy-hitters. And Jon could not have been more helpful in getting it all in line.” Allegations against Peters date back to 1996 when September Bradford, former assistant of Traci Barone, the then-president of Peters Entertainment, alleged sexual harassment and wrongful termination in a lawsuit. Apart from Bradford, Colleen Bennett, Peters’ finance vice president from September 1996 until August 1998, Peters’ former housekeeper Blanca Hernandez had also filed lawsuits against him. The allegations against Peters were added in a petition drive launched last month through Change.org, which had sought a boycott of A Star Is Born due to a 2012 photo of Gaga and castmate Andrew Dice Clay’s past remarks supporting misogyny, racism, and homophobia, Variety stated. A Star is Born received overwhelmingly positive reviews at the Toronto International Film Festival , and was heralded by Variety as   “a transcendent Hollywood movie” and as  “damned near perfect”  as per Rolling Stone.