Dustin Hoffman accused of exposing himself to minor
Los Angeles, Dec 15 (IANS) Actor Dustin Hoffman has been accused of allegedly exposing himself to a 16-year-old classmate of his daughter Karina in 1980 and assaulting two other women while working on the 1987 film “Ishtar”.
Speaking to variety.com, the women described predatory incidents involving Hoffman that fit into a pattern of alleged behaviour that has emerged in the wake of previous sexual-misconduct claims against the now 80-year-old actor.
Cori Thomas was in high school when she says Hoffman exposed himself to her in a hotel room.
Melissa Kester was a college graduate when Hoffman allegedly sexually assaulted her while recording audio for the film “Ishtar”.
A third woman, who asked to remain anonymous, said that Hoffman assaulted her in the back of a station wagon and manipulated her into a subsequent sexual encounter that left her traumatised.
In a letter to Variety’s owner Penske Media Corp, Hoffman’s attorney Mark A. Neubauer of Carlton Fields Jordan Burt called the accusations against the actor “defamatory falsehoods”.
Thomas didn’t share the story of her encounter with Hoffman until seven years after it allegedly occurred, when her daughter was born.
She told a family member — who having heard the story some time in the 1980s — and several close friends.
“One of them said, ‘If this was your daughter, what would you do?’ And I said, ‘I would call the police’,” said Thomas, who is now a playwright.
Earlier this year, three women came forward with allegations against Hoffman detailing sexual harassment that they said occurred decades ago.
In an October letter, Anna Graham Hunter, a production assistant on “Death of a Salesman” in 1985, wrote that Hoffman harassed and assaulted her on set when she was 17 years old.
The following month, Wendy Riss Gatsiounis, now a producer on the National Geographic series “Genius”, said that Hoffman propositioned her during a pitch meeting.
Last week, actress Kathryn Rossetter shared that Hoffman groped and assaulted her while the two worked together on the Broadway production of “Death of a Salesman”.
