Nov. 2 (UPI) — Dustin Hoffman is the latest Hollywood figure to face sexual harassment accusations after two women came forward with their stories about dealing with the actor.
The first woman, Anna Graham Hunter, shared with The Hollywood Reporter on Wednesday her account of working with Hoffman as an intern when she was 17 on the set of the 1985 television adaption of “Death of a Salesman.”
“He asked me to give him a foot massage my first day on set; I did. He was openly flirtatious, he grabbed my ass, he talked about sex to me and in front of me,” Hunter said who also shared in her article mailed letters she sent to her sister at the time where she detailed her interactions with Hoffman on set.
“One morning I went to his dressing room to take his breakfast order; he looked at me and grinned, taking his time. Then he said, ‘I’ll have a hard-boiled egg … and a soft-boiled clitoris,'” Hunter shared.
“At 49, I understand what Dustin Hoffman did as it fits into the larger pattern of what women experience in Hollywood and everywhere. He was a predator, I was a child, and this was sexual harassment. As to how it fits into my own pattern, I imagine I’ll be figuring that out for years to come,” she wrote.
Hoffman was contacted by The Hollywood Reporter and stated, “I have the utmost respect for women and feel terrible that anything I might have done could have put her in an uncomfortable situation. I am sorry. It is not reflective of who I am.”
Also on Wednesday, the second woman, television writer Wendy Riss Gatsiounis, came forward with her story in an interview with Variety.
Riss Gatsiounis states Hoffman harassed her when she was in her early 20s while they were meeting about adapting her play “A Darker Purpose” into a film for Hoffman to star in. Hoffman was 53 at the time and was accompanied by “Tootsie” screenwriter Murray Schisgal during the meeting.
“I go in, and this time it’s, like, Dustin Hoffman’s really different,” Riss Gatsiounis said of Hoffman’s changed demeanor during their second meeting. “He says, ‘Before you start, let me ask you one question, Wendy — have you ever been intimate with a man over 40?'” she continues.
“I’ll never forget — he moves back, he opens his arms, and he says, ‘It would be a whole new body to explore,'” Riss Gatsiounis shared before noting how Hoffman attempted to persuade her to come with him clothes shopping at a nearby hotel which she declined. Hoffman then left with Schisgal stating that the pair were no longer interested in the project anymore.
In a statement to Variety, Schisgal noted, “Dustin Hoffman and I took many meetings with writers and playwrights over many years. I have no recollection of this meeting or of any of the behavior or actions described.”
