Just as I hoped, the take down of Harvey Weinstein is giving women all over Hollywood the confidence they need to bring them all down. Because there are sooo many lecherous, power abusive, sex fueled pigs in charge over there.
Writer and director James Toback, who received an Oscar nomination for writing “Bugsy,” has been accused of sexual harassment by 38 women in a report published Sunday in The Los Angeles Times.
In the report, many of the women allege that Toback approached them on the streets of New York City and promised stardom. His meetings would often end with sexual questions and Toback masturbating in front of them or dry-humping them, according to the accounts.
The 72-year-old denied the allegations to The Los Angeles Times, saying he never met any of the women, or if he had it “was for five minutes and (I) have no recollection.”
Thirty-one of the women spoke on the record, including “As the World Turns” actress Terri Conn.
Musician Louise Post, who would go on to lead (with Nina Gordon) the successful Chicago indie band Veruca Salt, said she met with Toback while she was attending Barnard College in 1987. “He told me he’d love nothing more than to masturbate while looking into my eyes,” she said.
The singer and guitarist added: “Going to his apartment has been the source of shame for the past 30 years, that I allowed myself to be so gullible.”
Actress Echo Danon recalled an incident on the set of his film “Black and White” where Toback put his hands on her and said that he would ejaculate if she looked at his eyes and pinched his nipples.
“Everyone wants to work, so they put up with it,” Danon told the Times. “That’s why I put up with it. Because I was hoping to get another job.”
The report comes amid the ongoing downfall of producer Harvey Weinstein, who has been accused of sexual harassment and assault by over three dozen women. He was fired from the company he co-founded and widely denounced by his Hollywood peers.
“James Toback damn you for stealing, damn you for traumatizing,” tweeted Weinstein accuser Rose McGowan Sunday.
Another Weinstein accuser, Asia Argento, tweeted, “So proud of my sisters for bringing down yet another pig” in response to the Toback report.
Though less widely known than Weinstein, Toback had a successful four-decade career in Hollywood and has a devoted following who have praised him for his originality and outsized, deeply flawed characters.