In the flurry of high profile studios and stars having a light shined on their inappropriate and often criminal behavior, you might have missed the allegations that have surfaced against legendary actor Dustin Hoffman. Writer Anna Graham Hunter claimed that Hoffman sexually harassed her the filming of the 1985 TV movie “The Death Of A Salesman,” while TV producer Riss Gatsiounis also alleged sexual harassment during a 1991 meeting. Even Meryl Streep, who starred with the actor in “Kramer Vs. Kramer,” said Hoffman was involved with an “offence,” for which he later apologized.
Hoffman has apologized for his actions in statements, but has really been seriously questioned about them — until now. During a recent Tribeca Institute Q&A following a 20th anniversary screening of “Wag Dog,” John Oliver wasn’t intimated by the panel of guests — which included Robert De Niro, producer Jane Rosenthal and director Barry Levinson — to press Hoffman about the allegations.
When asked about the allegations, Hoffman claimed not to know Hunter, and tried to pass off other comments and behavior as something he might do to “a family” member, adding that whatever was in the press was “not reflective of” who he was.
“It’s ‘not reflective of who I am’ — it’s that kind of response to this stuff that pisses me off,” Oliver countered. “It is reflective of who you were. If you’ve given no evidence to show it didn’t [happen] then there was a period of time for a while when you were a creeper around women. It feels like a cop-out to say ‘it wasn’t me.’ Do you understand how that feels like a dismissal?”
Needless to say, the sparring — which took up nearly half the panel — got very heated, but Oliver refused to back down.
“I can’t leave certain things unaddressed,” the “Last Week Tonight” host said. “The easy way is not to bring anything up. Unfortunately that leaves me at home later at night hating myself. ‘Why the…didn’t I say something? No one stands up to powerful men.’ ”
It’s a pretty incredible exchange, and you can watch some of it below. [Washington Post]