Women accuse Hollywood's Toback of sexual harassment

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American screenwriter and film director James Toback has been accused by 38 women of sexual harassment in the last 30 years, following the sex scandal exposure on Hollywood producer Harvey Weinstein.

The Los Angeles Times reported Monday that it spoke to 38 women about the allegations, with 31 speaking on the record.

Toback's behavior included prowling the streets of Manhattan to look for attractive young women, usually in their early 20s. He approached them in Central Park, standing in line at a bank or drug store or at a copy center while they worked on their resumes.

Then, in a hotel room, a movie trailer, a public park, meetings framed as interviews or auditions quickly turned sexual, according to 38 women who, in separate interviews, told the Los Angeles Times of similar encounters they had with Toback.

Alec Baldwin (R) poses with his wife Hilaria Thomas (C) and director James Toback during a photocall for the film "Seduced and Abandoned" at the 66th edition of the Cannes Film Festival in Cannes, May 21, 2013. /AFP/Getty Images

During these meetings, many of the women said that Toback boasted of sexual conquests with the famous and then asked humiliating personal questions. As is often the case, none of them contacted the police at the time.

When contacted by The Los Angeles Times, Toback denied the allegations, saying that he had never met any of these women or, if he did, it "was for five minutes and have no recollection."

He also repeatedly claimed that for the last 22 years, it had been "biologically impossible" for him to engage in the behavior described by the women in this story, saying he had diabetes and a heart condition that required medication.

Toback, 72, is the latest powerful figure in Hollywood to be accused of sexual harassment. He was the screenwriter and the director of nine films, including "Two Girls and a Guy," "Black and White," and "Harvard Man." He was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Original Screenplay in 1991 for "Bugsy."

Source(s): Xinhua News Agency