New sex scandal breaks
Writer-director Toback accused by 38 women
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 in The Los Angeles Times.
In the report, many of the women allege 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 dryhumping them, according to the accounts.
The 72-year-old denied the allegations, 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 Louise Post, who is a guitarist and vocalist for the band Veruca Salt, and As the World Turns actress Terri Conn.
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.
A New York native, Harvard graduate, creative writing professor and compulsive gambler, Toback used his own life as inspiration for his first produced screenplay, The Gambler, which came out in 1974 and starred James Caan.