McAdams, Blair speak out
Actresses join growing list of women accusing James Toback of assault, harassment
LOS ANGELES — Canadian actress Rachel McAdams and American actress Selma Blair have added their names to the growing list of women who have come forward to allege that writer and director James Toback sexually harassed or assaulted them. A recent report in
details the accounts of 38 other accusers.
Since Sunday, Oct. 22, the number of accusers has ballooned to more than 200 alleging inappropriate encounters with Toback, an Oscar-nominee for his screenplay.
In a article published Thursday, Blair and McAdams describe encounters similar to those detailed in the report — many of which assert that Toback, now 72, would talk up his accomplishments and promise stardom, often referencing his friendship with Robert Downey Jr., before masturbating or simulating sex acts on the women.
Blair arranged to meet Toback at a hotel restaurant for a possible role in his film Blair said when she arrived the hostess said Toback wanted her to meet him in his room.
There, she described a long meeting in which Toback asked her to perform a monologue naked, propositioned her for sex and said he would not let her leave until he “had release.” Blair said he then simulated sexual intercourse on her leg.
“I felt disgust and shame, and like nobody would ever think of me as being clean again after being this close to the devil,” Blair said. “His energy was so sinister.”
Afterward, Toback allegedly implied that if she told anyone, he could have her killed.
“I didn’t want to speak up because, it sounds crazy but, even until now, I have been scared for my life,” Blair said.
McAdams, an Oscar nominee for her supporting role in also met Toback to audition for
She was 21 and just starting out in the business. After her audition he told her he wanted to workshop with her. They met that night in his hotel room where, she said, the conversation quickly turned sexual.
“He said, ‘You know, I just have to tell you. I have masturbated countless times today thinking about you since we met at your audition,’ ” McAdams said.
He later asked if she would show him her pubic hair. McAdams said she eventually excused herself and left.
“I was very lucky that I left and he didn’t actually physically assault me in any way,” she said, adding she has felt shame ever since that she didn’t leave earlier. When she told her agent about the encounter the next day, she said the agent said Toback had done this to another one of her actress clients.
Toback denied the allegations to the and declined to comment on the new allegations to
He has not responded to requests for comment from The Associated Press.
The accounts come as sexual harassment in the workplace, and, specifically Hollywood, has been under increased scrutiny after dozens of women accused movie mogul Harvey Weinstein of sexual harassment and assault going back decades.
Blair said in the case of Toback she was emboldened by the “brave women” who spoke out in the and the rage she felt when Toback dismissed the accounts. Blair also said she hoped “someone bigger” than her would “call him out.”
Weinstein’s accusers, who now total over 50, have ranged from assistants to aspiring actresses to some of the industry’s most famous, including Gwyneth Paltrow and Angelina Jolie. Filmmaker Ava DuVernay tweeted that Blair and the others are “big enough.”
“You’ve helped someone out there. You have,” DuVernay wrote to Blair.
“For years, many in power tried to divide & conquer women in order to dominate, control, & victimize them,” said actress Jessica Chastain on Twitter on Thursday with a link to the article.
“The inexcusable stops now.” behaviour