Writer and director James Toback, who received an Oscar nomination for writing Bugsy , has been accused of sexual harassment by 38 women in a report published in The Los Angeles Times .
In the report, many of the women allege that Toback approached them on the streets of New York City and promised stardom. His meetings would often end with sexual questions and Toback masturbating in front of them or simulating sexual intercourse with them, according to the accounts.
72-year-old Toback has denied the allegations, saying he never met any of the women, or if he had it “was for five minutes and (I) have no recollection.”
Thirty-one of the women spoke on the record including Louise Post, who is a guitarist and vocalist for the band Veruca Salt, and As the World Turns actor Terri Conn.
“Everyone wants to work, so they put up with it,” actor Echo Danon told the Times . “That’s why I put up with it. Because I was hoping to get another job.”
On Sunday afternoon, Times reporter Glenn Whipp said the number of accusers had doubled since the story had published.
The report comes amid the ongoing downfall of producer Harvey Weinstein, who has been accused of sexual harassment and assault by over three dozen women.
“James Toback damn you for stealing, damn you for traumatizing,” tweeted Weinstein accuser Rose McGowan on Sunday.
Online support
Another Weinstein accuser, actor-director Asia Argento, tweeted, “So proud of my sisters for bringing down yet another pig” in response to the Toback report.
Though less widely known than Weinstein, Toback has had a successful four-decade career in Hollywood and has a devoted following who have praised him for his originality and outsized, deeply flawed characters.
A New York native, Harvard graduate, creative writing professor and compulsive gambler, Toback used his own life as inspiration for his first produced screenplay, The Gambler , which came out in 1974 and starred James Caan. The film was remade in 2014 with Mark Walhberg and Brie Larson.
Toback’s upcoming film, The Private Life of a Modern Woman , stars Sienna Miller and Alec Baldwin and debuted at the Venice film festival earlier this year.
Guardians of the Galaxy director James Gunn wrote a lengthy Facebook post about the allegations, saying that he has personally met at least 15 women who have said they have had these kinds of encounters with Toback.
“For over twenty years now, I’ve been bringing up James Toback every chance I could in groups of people,” Gunn wrote. “I couldn’t stop him, but I could warn people about him.”
