Moore adds to accounts of sexual harassment
Sexual-assault allegations continued to mount Tuesday against prominent Hollywood figures.
A former Weinstein Co. production assistant alleged that Harvey Weinstein sexually assaulted her after her repeated refusals. And actor Julianne Moore added her name to a list of more than 200 women who have accused film director James Toback of improper conduct.
Moore, who stars in George Clooney’s new film, Suburbicon, shared her tale Tuesday in direct tweets to Los Angeles Times reporter Glenn Whipp, who broke the Toback story on Sunday with a report on 38 women who went on the record about their alleged dealings with Toback, director of the movie Bugsy. More than 200 women have now come forward alleging experiences of harassment with the filmmaker.
Moore, an Oscar- and Emmywinning actor, said Toback approached her in the 1980s using the same language detailed in the Times investigation and wanted her to audition at his apartment. “I refused,” she wrote. “One month later, he did it again with the exact same language. I said: ‘Don’t you remember you did this before?’ ”
The women accusing Toback reported a pattern of behaviour, carried out over four decades, that included the director approaching them in New York and Los Angeles, boasting of his movie credits and relationships with stars such as Robert Downey Jr.
Moore, 56, is the best-known star to share her alleged experience with Toback. Louise Post, guitarist and vocalist for the rock band Veruca Salt, detailed her story to the Times, and Today show anchor Natalie Morales said that she also had an encounter with Toback in Central Park. Guardians of the Galaxy director James Gunn said he had been warning women about Toback for years.
Toback, 72, has denied the allegations, saying he had never met any of the women in the story or, if he did, it “was for five minutes and [I] have no recollection.”
At a news conference held in New York by lawyer Gloria Allred, Mimi Haleyi claimed Weinstein forcibly performed oral sex on her in 2006. Haleyi was in her 20s at the time, Allred said.
In graphic detail, Haleyi described Weinstein holding her down at his New York apartment in what she said appeared to be a child’s bedroom.
“He was extremely persistent and physically overpowering,” Haleyi said. “He then orally forced himself on me, while I was on my period.”
Among the dozens of women who have claimed Weinstein sexually harassed them, several have said Weinstein raped them. Police in Los Angeles, New York and London are investigating rape allegations.
Among those who have accused Weinstein of sexual harassment are Angelina Jolie and Gwyneth Paltrow. Actor Rose McGowan recently went public with her allegation after reaching a settlement with Weinstein in 1997. Italian filmmaker and actor Asia Argento and onetime aspiring actor Lucia Evans told the New Yorker that Weinstein sexually assaulted them by forced oral sex.
Representatives for Weinstein did not comment on Tuesday. Weinstein, who is staying in an Arizona rehabilitation facility, has previously denied any nonconsensual sexual encounters.