Another accusation against Hoffman
Incident detailed with actor when she was 16
NEW YORK — A playwright who says Dustin Hoffman exposed himself to her and had her massage his feet in a hotel room when she was 16 said Friday that she spent years in guilty silence and took pains to not dress suggestively in professional contexts because she assumed the incident was her fault.
Playwright Cori Thomas was a classmate of Hoffman’s daughter in 1980 when she says she met the actor, who invited her to his New York hotel room to wait for her mother after dinner with the teenagers. After his daughter left, Hoffman went to take a shower, Thomas said in an interview with The Associated Press.
“I was just sitting there waiting for my parents. He came out of the bathroom and had a towel around him and that was the first, ‘Hmm, that is kind of weird,’ ” Thomas, now 53, said. “And then he dropped the towel, and I think I just like … I had never seen a naked man. I had never kissed a man.”
The publicist and attorney for the 80-year-old Oscar winner didn’t return email messages seeking comment. In other developments:
■ Nine more women said that
Alex Kozinski — a high-profile judge who sits on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 9th Circuit — subjected them to sexual comments or other conduct, including four who say he touched them inappropriately.
Kozinski already had been accused of subjecting several women to a range of inappropriate sexual conduct or comments. An investigation into his behavior was assigned Friday to the 2nd Circuit judicial council.
■ Celebrity chef Mario Batali has been kicked off ABC’S “The Chew” amid allegations from several women that he touched them inappropriately. ABC said that while it was not aware of any inappropriate behavior involving him and the show, the network says “we are committed to a safe work environment and his past behavior violates our standards of conduct.”
■ Mills Entertainment pulled out of backing Tavis Smiley’s theatrical production focusing on the last year of Martin Luther King Jr.’s life. Smiley, who has been indefinitely suspended from his PBS talk show, was to launch a nationwide 40-city tour of “Death of a King: A Live Theatrical Experience,” based on his 2014 book. But Mills Entertainment said Friday that “in light of the recent allegations” it will be “suspending our relationship with” Smiley.
■ “The Florida Project” producer Andrew Duncan has been accused of sexual misconduct by a dozen anonymous women and is stepping down from his company June Pictures. Duncan in a statement Friday disputes the allegations. “The Florida Project” is considered a candidate for best picture at the Oscars.
■ Music mogul Russell Simmons said on Instagram he plans to defend himself after The New York Times published claims by three women saying he raped them. The allegations stem from the 1980s and 1990s. Simmons denied the allegations Wednesday and again Thursday.
■ Former ESPN personality Adrienne Lawrence accused the network of trying to silence her and other women who assert they were subjected to a sexually hostile work environment. She alleges, among other things, that she was not offered a permanent job at ESPN after complaining that anchor John Buccigross had sent her unsolicited shirtless photos and used inappropriate nicknames for her.
■ The Detroit Free Press fired Stephen Henderson, its managing director of opinion and commentary, after finding what it called credible allegations of inappropriate behavior with female colleagues, the newspaper announced Friday.
■ Alaska state Rep. Dean Westlake was accused by several women of inappropriate behavior and announced Friday that he will resign.