Dustin Hoffman accused of sexually harassing 5 more women, some underage
Actor Dustin Hoffman, seen in the above file photo, has been accused of three new women of sexual harassment, Variety reported. (AP)
Five woman came forward Thursday accusing Dustin Hoffman of sexual harassment, with two of them saying they were underage at the time, The Hollywood Reporter and Variety reported.
These are the latest in a series of accusations leveled at the Oscar-winning actor since November. Representatives for Hoffman did not immediately respond to Fox News’ request for comment. Hoffman’s attorney Mark A. Neubauer called the accusations against the actor “defamatory falsehoods” in a letter to Variety's owner, Pensky Media Corp.
The first woman to step forward in Thursday's reports, Cori Thomas, told Variety that in 1980, when she was 16, she spent a day in New York with Hoffman and his daughter, a friend of hers.
Thomas unexpectedly ended up alone with Hoffman in his hotel room while she waited for her parents to pick her up, Variety said.
While waiting, Hoffman, who had seemingly gone to take a shower, allegedly reappeared in only a towel, which he reportedly dropped in front of the teen, completely exposing himself, according to Variety.
“It was the first time I had ever seen a naked man,” she told Variety. “I was mortified. I didn’t know what to do. And he milked it. He milked the fact that he was naked. He stood there. He took his time.”
THIRD DUSTIN HOFFMAN ACCUSER SAYS ACTOR SEXUALLY ASSAULTED HER IN 1983
Thomas claimed that after putting his robe back on, Hoffman asked her to massage his feet and said, “I’m naked. Do you want to see?”
Her parents reportedly arrived shortly afterwards and Thomas left. The story was corroborated by a family member, who told Variety that they’d learned of the encounter seven years later.
The second accuser, Melissa Kester, said her boyfriend at the time of the alleged incident was working on the music for Hoffman’s 1987 film “Ishtar” in Los Angeles, Variety reported.
During a recording session Kester said she attended, Hoffman reportedly was struggling and asked her to come into the booth with him.
Kester, who was there with her boyfriend and another engineer, told Variety she obliged and when she went inside, Hoffman grabbed her in a “kind of flirtatious” way.
“I felt awkward,” she told Variety. “It’s a little weird. He’s hugging me while he’s singing. But ha ha ha, it’s all a joke. My boyfriend is right there.”
DUSTIN HOFFMAN ACCUSED OF SEXUAL HARASSING THEN-17-YEAR-OLD GIRL
Kester claimed that Hoffman then “stuck his fingers down my pants.” The others outside the room reportedly couldn’t see what was happening, but Kester told Variety that she “made an effort not to react” so her boyfriend wouldn’t notice.
“Then I just ran out of there, and I sat in the bathroom crying,” Kester told the outlet. “I thought, ‘Oh my God.’ I felt like I’d been raped. There was no warning. I didn’t know he would do that.”
Kester said she never told her boyfriend what happened, but she did tell a friend, who reportedly confirmed the allegation to the outlet.
A third woman, whose name was not revealed by Variety, said she met Hoffman during production of “Ishtar” in New York, the outlet said.
DUSTIN HOFFMAN ACCUSED OF SEXUAL HARRASSMENT BY SECOND WOMAN
The woman, then 22 years old, reportedly had a small role in the movie and met the actor on set. On the final day of shooting, she told Variety that Hoffman invited her to the studio and encouraged her to stay for the wrap party.
Hoffman, she told the outlet, had a driver with a station wagon outside and offered to take her, and others, home. She said the pair lay in the back of the crowded car and Hoffman put his hand up her skirt, Variety reported.
“There are people inches from us,” she said. “And he just took his hand and stuck his fingers right up inside of me. I didn’t know what to do. He’s smiling at me. I was frozen. I was outside of my body.”
At the end of the ride, Hoffman reportedly gave her $20 and wanted her to meet him at his apartment. After driving around in a cab, unsure what to do, the woman said she went to his building, where the pair had sex, Variety reported.
The woman told the outlet that she believed the incident in the car with Hoffman was not consensual, but said “I don’t know” when asked if the intercourse was.
A fourth accuser, who went only by Pauline, spoke to The Hollywood Reporter and detailed her alleged encounter with Hoffman. She told the outlet she met him in 1973 when she 15 and worked at a clothing store in New York.
Pauline recounted that Hoffman would often come by the store and once invited her to a premiere of his movie “Alfredo, Alfredo,” to which she brought her twin sister, The Reporter said.
But the alleged harassment reportedly occurred when she visited Hoffman's apartment after they went to see a movie. He invited her over under the pretense of seeing the puppy he said he bought for his daughter.
When they arrived, Pauline told the outlet that she didn't see a dog and it didn't seem like anyone was home. After rejecting Hoffman's next request to see his daughter's room, Pauline claimed he said, “Do you want to see something else?” before exposing his genitals and masturbating in front of her, The Reporter said.
“I'd never even seen a naked man before,” Pauline said. “I had never seen anything like it. I didn't know what to say, what to do.”
“'I'll be finished soon,' he said,” Pauline claimed. “I didn't even know what to say.”
Pauline told the outlet she went home after and didn't immediately tell anyone what happened to her.
The Hollywood Reporter included a fifth woman, writing that it would call her by an alias, “Carolyn.” She said she'd met Hoffman in 1975 when she was 21, working as a tour guide in Washington, D.C.
She told the outlet that Hoffman's assistant invited her, on his behalf, to his hotel that night. But when she got there, he reportedly knew more about her than she'd shared with him.
“It was as if he had researched me,” she said.
When the woman said she wanted to leave, Hoffman allegedly blocked the door and said, “Go home? You don't think you're getting out of here without having sex, do you?" the Reporter said.
Hoffman reportedly offered her a choice of two sexual acts, to which she chose oral sex. Afterward, she claimed he gave her $20 for the ride home and she left.