John Oliver confronted Dustin Hoffman about the sexual misconduct allegations against him in a heated exchange that suggested that Academy Award-winning actor is not apologetic about his alleged behavior.
Hoffman appeared in a panel alongside Robert DeNiro and Wag the Dog producer Jane Rosenthal, at an event hosted by John Oliver to celebrate the movie’s 20th anniversary. At one point, the conversation shifted to the allegations made by a former production assistant who said Huffman sexually harassed her when she was 17.
As CrimeOnline previously reported, Anna Graham Hunter said that Hoffman harassed her in 1985, grabbing her behind and introducing sexually explicit conversation while on the set of the movie Death of a Salesman.
Oliver was the first to introduce the topic, and Hoffman was far from conciliatory during the discussion, first claiming he didn’t remember the woman at all and also insisting that whatever may have happened on the movie said was just part of the culture, and that everyone participated equally.
Following the allegations last month, Hoffman issued a statement of apology.
“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.”
Oliver took him to task on the last part of that statement.
“It’s ‘not reflective of who I am,’ it’s that kind of response to this stuff that pisses me off. It is reflective of who you were. If you’ve given no evidence to show it didn’t [happen] then there was a period of time for a while when you were a creeper around women. It feels like a cop-out to say ‘it wasn’t me.’ Do you understand how that feels like a dismissal?”
Hoffman remained defiant, insisting that if he did in fact make the woman feel uncomfortable, it’s not behavior he feels he would engage in today. He also criticized Oliver for assuming he was guilty of misconduct without having been witness to any of the alleged behavior.
“You weren’t there,” Hoffman said.
“I’m glad I wasn’t,” Oliver quipped.
Watch the tense conversation here:
[Feature image: Associated Press]
