Oct. 27 (UPI) — Selma Blair and Rachel McAdams have joined the other 38 women who have accused filmmaker James Toback of sexual harassment.
Blair and McAdams shared their accounts of meeting with Toback about the film “Harvard Man” Thursday in a story published by Vanity Fair.
“Against my better judgment, I went upstairs,” Blair shared of her encounter with Toback.
“I went in the room feeling a little off balance about the arrangement, but he seemed nonplussed. He pulled out the script and said, ‘I look at you, and I see that we have a real connection. You could be an incredible actress, just by your eyes. But I can tell you don’t have confidence,'” before noting how the director then asked her to “do this monologue naked.”
“I do remember looking down at the script and seeing my bare chest, and not being able to focus on anything but the words and my face being so hot and puffy, and feeling so ashamed,” Blair said. The actress stated that after she denied Toback sex, she allowed him to touch her while he masturbated after he stopped her from leaving.
McAdams shared a similar story about meeting Toback for “Harvard Man” detailing how upon arriving, he admitted to masturbating while thinking of her.
“Eventually, I just excused myself. I can’t remember how long I was there. I felt like I was there forever. This has been such a source of shame for me — that I didn’t have the wherewithal to get up and leave,” McAdams said.
After explaining what happened to her agent, McAdams said she discovered that another of the agent’s clients went through the same thing with Toback. “That is when I got mad, because I felt like I was kind of thrown into the lion’s den and given no warning that he was a predator,” she said. “This was something that he was known for doing already.”
Toback has denied the allegations made against him by the 38 women and offered no comment when asked about Blair and McAdams’ allegations.
