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Director James Toback Accused Of Sexual Harassment, Assault By 38 Women—Hollywood Reacts To Latest Sex Scandal

By Victoria Miller
Published on: 05:39 PST, Oct 22, 2017

Hollywood director James Toback is denying allegations that he sexually harassed nearly 40 women during his long career as a screenwriter and filmmaker. After bombshell allegations surfaced about the director, Toback, who was nominated for an Academy Award for his screenplay for the 1991 Warren Beatty film Bugsy, told the Los Angeles Times that he has never even met the 38 women who have accused him of using his status in Hollywood to lure them to meetings that would turn overtly sexual.

Toback’s dozens of accusers have alleged that the famed director used graphic language and engaged in masturbation during their private meetings. Toback not only denies the claims, he says it’s “physically impossible” for him to do the things described due to his medical ailments, which include diabetes and a heart condition.

James Toback shot to fame in the late 1980s as the writer of the Robert Downey Jr. movie The Pick-up Artist. James’ most recent film, The Private Life of a Modern Woman, starred Sienna Miller and premiered at the Venice Film Festival last month. Toback has also had a close working relationship with Alec Baldwin, who also appeared in the 2017 film.

The allegations against James Tobak are not a huge surprise—a 1989 Spy magazine expose, which recently resurfaced on Scribd, detailed the director’s practice of setting private meetings with female clients late at night to talk about appearing in one of his films. But the accusations are coming fast and furious, with numbers that will almost certainly rise.

On the heels of the Harvey Weinstein scandal, Hollywood victims seem to have a newfound courage to speak out against James Toback, and they are getting plenty of support from their peers.

Veruca Salt lead singer Louise Post was one of the women who spoke out to the Times with allegations about James Toback, whom she met in 1987 while in college.

“He told me he’d love nothing more than to masturbate while looking into my eyes,” the Veruca Salt singer said.

“Going to his apartment has been the source of shame for the past 30 years, that I allowed myself to be so gullible.”

As news of the Toback allegations broke, TV host Anthony Bourdain was one of the first stars to comment on the elephant in the room known as James Toback. Bourdain took to Twitter to write: “Long overdue for this well-known sack of sh*t.”

Actor John Fugelsang weighed in on the not-so-surprising news, while actress Sherri Saum (The Fosters) detailed her personal experience with James Toback. You can see some of the reactions below.

[Featured Image by Vittorio Zunino Celotto/Getty Images]

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