Summary: A woman is accusing Dustin Hoffman of sexually harassing her over 30 years ago when she was a 17-year-old working on the set of a film he was starring in.
A former production assistant has accused actor Dustin Hoffman, 80, of sexually harassing her over thirty years ago. Anna Graham Hunter was 17 when she was working on the set of “Death of a Salesman” in 1985.
Hunter said in an essay for The Hollywood Reporter, “When I was a senior in high school in New York City, interning as a production assistant on the set of the ‘Death of a Salesman’ TV film, he asked me to give him a foot massage my first day on set; I did. He was openly flirtatious, he grabbed my ass, he talked about sex to me and in front of me. One morning I went to his dressing room to take his breakfast order; he looked at me and grinned, taking his time. Then he said, ‘I’ll have a hard-boiled egg … and a soft-boiled clitoris.’ His entourage burst out laughing. I left, speechless. Then I went to the bathroom and cried.”
Hunter goes on the detail her experiences with the then-48-year-old in several letters she wrote to her sister during her time as an intern. She claims during her second week on the set that Hoffman asked if she followed his instructions to have sex over the weekend. She notes that he said she was “cracking up” during the conversation.
The next letter marked three days later has Hunter describing the Oscar winner as a “lech.” She claimed his harassment had “disillusioned” her and the sexual harassment towards her and another production assistant, Elizabeth, was escalating. Elizabeth apparently called Hoffman a “pig.”
She wrote, “When I was walking Dustin to his limo, he felt my ass four times. I hit him each time, hard, and told him he was a dirty old man. He took off his hat and pointed to his head (shaved for the part) and said, ‘No, I’, a dirty young man, I have a full head of hair.’”
In a letter the following week she wrote, “This morning when I asked Dustin what he wanted for breakfast, he said something that beat even his lows. It was worse than anything anyone has ever said to me on the street. It was so gross I couldn’t say anything. I just turned around and walked out.”
Hunter claims she talked to Hoffman about his behavior after the latest breakfast incident. He apologized and was kind to her after that so her supervisor advised her to not make it an issue. However, after Warren Beatty visited the set, Hoffman apparently told her over the course of a few days, “So Anna, I get Warren tonight, you get him Tuesday?” and the next day, “You might as well have undressed yourself. You were saying, ‘F**k me, f**k me, Warren.”
The claims come on the tail of over 60 women crying foul against producer Harvey Weinstein. A number of other notable Hollywood stars have been accused of sexual harassment, assault, and rape including Kevin Spacey, James Toback, and Brett Ratner.
Hoffman told The Hollywood Reporter, “I have the utmost respect for women and feel terrible that anything I might have done could have put her in an uncomfortable situation. I am sorry. It is not reflective of who I am.”
Do you think women can be at blame for allowing some of the behavior to continue in some instances? Share your thoughts with us in the comments below.
To learn more about the new sexual harassment accusations, read these articles:
- 6 Women Accuse Director Brett Ratner of Sexual Harassment
- Multiple Women Accuse Political Journalist Mark Halperin of Sexual Harassment
- 12 Shocking Sexual Harassment Claims against Bill O’Reilly
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