Last month, writer Anna Graham Hunter accused legendary actor Dustin Hoffman of sexual harassment. It happened when she was only 17 years old, a senior in high school, working as a production assistant on the set of Death of a Salesman. Hoffman allegedly asked her for a foot massage, grabbed her ass multiple times, and joked that for breakfast, "I'll have a hard-boiled egg … and a soft-boiled clitoris." Movie fans were shocked at the icon's behavior, but not shocked his stand-up comedy career never took off. [[twitterwidget||https://twitter.com/ira/status/937968472901873664]] A couple weeks ago, Last Week Tonight host John Oliver grilled Hoffman about his sexual assault allegations during a panel for the 20th anniversary of Wag The Dog. (In addition to Hunter, Hoffman's The Graduate co-star, Katharine Ross, accused him of groping her during a screen test.) The confrontation grew extremely tense. Hoffman defended his behavior as typical of a movie set, claimed his actions were "not reflective" of who he was, and questioned whether or not the incidents really happened. Meanwhile, Oliver, kept pressing, saying he "didn't like" those responses. Now, in what has become a familiar part of the news cycle, three more women have come forward to accuse the 80-year-old actor of sexual misconduct. In a report published by Variety, they tell their stories. Cori Thomas met Dustin Hoffman in 1980, when she was 16 years old. She went to high school with Hoffman's daughter, Karina, and they became friends. As an aspiring actress, Thomas was thrilled to spend a Sunday afternoon with Karina and her father, who she considered "her idol." The three went for a walk in Manhattan, and ate dinner at a restaurant on the Upper East Side. The plan was for Thomas' mom and dad (who was a U.N. ambassador to Liberia) to pick her up at the restaurant. Instead, Hoffman suggested her parents pick her up at his hotel. (His apartment was being renovated, so he was staying at a hotel nearby) When the three of them arrived at the hotel, Hoffman sent his daughter home. Then he went to the bathroom, came out only wearing a towel, and dropped it. "I think I almost collapsed, actually," says Thomas. "It was the first time I had ever seen a naked man. I was mortified. I didn’t know what to do." A second woman, Melissa Kester, met Dustin Hoffman while he was recording vocal tracks for the 1987 movie Ishtar. Kester was a recent college graduate, dating a guy who worked on music for the film. Her boyfriend invited her to come down to the Malibu studio to check out the recording sessions. During one visit, Hoffman was in the isolation booth, waiting for the men in the control room to make technical adjustments. "Send Melissa in," Hoffman said. "I'm bored." In the studio, everyone would often joke around. People would be flirtatious, but in an innocent way. That is, until Kester joined Hoffman inside the booth. There was a window between the isolation booth and the control the room, but the two could only be seen from the waist up. “He literally just stuck his fingers down my pants,” Kester said. “He put his fingers inside me. And the thing I feel most bad about is I didn’t know what to do. I just stood there. I just froze in the situation like ‘Oh my god, what is happening?’ It’s shocking when that happens to you.” Hoffman kept his fingers inside Kester for "fifteen to twenty seconds" - until he was finished with the take. (And he did this while her boyfriend was in the other room!) Afterward, “he kind of laughed,” said Kester. “Then I just ran out of there, and I sat in the bathroom crying." A third woman, who wishes to remain anonymous, says she met Dustin Hoffman on the set of Ishtar, when she was 22. She had a non-speaking role in a nightclub scene, and Hoffman introduced himself, saying "You're a real actress, aren't you?" A week later, Hoffman invited her to visit the set on the last day of filming. They hung out at the wrap party, and when it was over, they all piled into a station wagon. Hoffman suggested they sit in the back. She was wearing a skirt. “There are people inches from us,” said the woman. “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... There were people there. What are they going to think of me [if say no], that I’m a whore, if a say something? What would I say? He's Dustin Hoffman." The woman says that the alleged assault from Hoffman triggered memories of childhood abuse, leading her to feel like she was in “a kind of fugue state.” They dropped her off, and Hoffman gave her twenty bucks, telling her to meet him at his hotel. When she arrived, Hoffman was waiting outside. He took her up to his room, where she claims he performed oral sex on her, and then they had intercourse. Variety asked her if this was consensual. "I don't know," she replied. Dustin Hoffman denies these allegations. While he didn't personally respond to the report, his legal representatives wrote a letter to Variety, and called them "defamatory falsehoods." Time will tell if Hoffman decides to respond further, or if any more women will come forward for their story. But we can safely assume the actor won't be doing any panels hosted by John Oliver anytime soon.  

With the myriad of allegations of sexual harassment and assault following the Harvey Weinstein scandal, we have gotten pretty used to the cycle. First, a victim comes forward with some testimony, then some more find the bravery in camaraderie to add their silenced experiences to the narrative, at which point the accused tends to dismiss the allegations as false in a public statement. One thing we don't tend to see are these people being directly challenged. One of the many Hollywood industry veterans who faced accusations of sexual misconduct in recent months was actor Dustin Hoffman. The Hollywood Reporter ran an article by a woman who claimed he had sexually harassed her on the set of Death of a Salesman in 1985, when she was only 17 years old. She explained that she was a high school senior at the time, interning as a production assistant on the set of the TV movie. She alleges he repeatedly sexually harassed her, detailing how he asked him for foot massages, flirted, "grabbed [her] ass", and made many inappropriate comments throughout the production. On top of this is the accusation by The Graduate co-star Katherine Ross, who claimed he had groped her on set, and another writer who said that he had sexually harassed her. Earlier this week, at a 20th anniversary screening of Hoffman's film Wag The Dog, a panel was held afterward with Hoffman, Robert De Niro, producer Jane Rosenthal and director Barry Levinson on stage. The interviewer was John Oliver, best known for his show Last Week Tonight. It was around halfway through this interview that things became incredibly tense, as the comedian and presenter decided to bring up the aforementioned allegations against Hoffman. [[twitterwidget||https://twitter.com/ira/status/937968472901873664]] "This is something we're going to have to talk about because... it's hanging in the air," Oliver said to the actor. "It's hanging in the air?" Hoffman said. "From a few things you'd read, you've made an incredible assumption about me," he went on, adding sarcastically: "you've made the case better than anyone else can. I'm guilty." After the initial allegation came out, Hoffman offered an apology, but within the statement noted several times that he didn't believe he had done anything wrong, and doubted that it had happened at all. He said he had not met the woman in question and all his comments on set were simply how members of a family would speak to one another. [[twitterwidget||https://twitter.com/theirishcowgirl/status/938030934078529537]] Oliver then cited Hoffman's official statement, in which he said the behavior he exhibited on set was "not reflective" of who he really is, saying that this response was a "cop-out". Hoffman felt that Oliver was putting him on display, and while Oliver did make attempts to move the conversation back to the film in question, the rest of the panel was dominated by the topic. When Hoffman asked Oliver if he believed everything he read, he simply replied "there's no point in [an accuser] lying", no doubt referring to the inevitable ridicule and abuse women face from the public and their own industry after making allegations. He then pointed out that this was relevant considering the film, Wag The Dog, deals with sexual misconduct by a powerful man, and that he cannot stay silent on the issue. “I can’t leave certain things unaddressed," the host said. "The easy way is not to bring anything up. Unfortunately, that leaves me at home later at night hating myself. ‘Why the … didn’t I say something? No one stands up to powerful men.’” [[twitterwidget||https://twitter.com/ZeitchikWaPo/status/937857906652872704]] In a confusing defense, Rosenthal said of the movie Wag The Dog: “It wasn’t produced by Weinstein or Miramax…Kevin Spacey wasn’t starring in it. Let’s look at real sexual criminal predators.” Oliver tersely responded: “That’s a low bar.” In light of these allegations, Hoffman cited his film Tootsie, in which he plays an actor who impersonates a woman, as evidence of his respect for women. As the argument continued, the audience got involved. One woman shouted at Oliver to "let it go", but was soon drowned out by others on Oliver's side, including one who yelled, "Thank you for believing women,” to loud cheers. While it doesn't seem to have changed Hoffman's stance at all, this does mark an important moment where those who have been accused by women of sexual misconduct are being directly confronted over it, rather than communicating solely through lawyers and official press statements.

Things just keep getting worse for Kevin Spacey. After apologizing for possibly (he was drunk and doesn't recall) sexually harassing a 14-year-old actor named Anthony Rapp, the famous actor is now being accused of sexual harassment by eight of his fellow staffers and employees on House of Cards. It seems that Mr. Spacey never quit allegedly sexually harassing his fellow male actors. These eight people spoke to CNN, and several of their stories were detailed in print. A former production assistant describes a pretty traumatizing story of sexual assault, where he was picking up Kevin Spacey to drive him to a shooting site for the show. The production assistant had to drive him into Baltimore for 30 miles, when he alleges that Spacey reached down his pants while he was driving. "I was in a state of shock. He was a man in a very powerful position on the show and I was someone very low on the totem pole and on the food chain there." Later, inside a trailer on the show's set, Spacey stopped him from leaving. Physically blocking him inside the trailer and making "inappropriate contact" with his body, the assistant finally said: "I don't think I'm ok with this, I don't think I'm comfortable with this." At that point, Spacey, embarrassed, left the trailer in a huff. Eventually, he told a supervisor about what had happened, and from that point on, Spacey and the production assistant were not allowed to be alone together any longer on set. The assistant said: "I have no doubt that this type of predatory behavior was routine for him and that my experience was one of many and that Kevin had few if any qualms about exploiting his status and position. It was a toxic environment for young men who had to interact with him at all in the crew, cast, background actors." A member of the crew who had worked on all six of the show's seasons also had a Spacey story. He said: "He would put his hands on me in weird ways. He would come in and massage my shoulders from behind or put his hands around me or touch my stomach sometimes in weird ways that in normal everyday conversation would not be appropriate...that's the worst part about this whole thing. I would love to be able to speak out about this kind of stuff and not fear." A former assistant who did camerawork on the show said: "All the crew members commented on his behavior. What gets me is we have to sign sexual harassment paperwork before the start of the show and apparently [Spacey] doesn't have to do anything and he gets away scott-free with this behavior." "Who is going to believe crew members?" he lamented. "You're going to get fired." A representative for MRC, the company which produces House of Cards for Netflix, said: "We are deeply troubled to learn about these new allegations that are being made to the press concerning Kevin Spacey's interaction with members of the crew of House of Cards. As the producer of the show, creating and maintaining a safe working environment for our cast and crew has always been our top priority. We have consistently reinforced the importance of employees reporting any incident without fear of retaliation and we have investigated and taken appropriate actions following any complaints. For example, during our first year of production in 2012, someone on the crew shared a complaint about a specific remark and gesture made by Kevin Spacey. Immediate action was taken following our review of the situation and we are confident the issue was resolved promptly to the satisfaction of all involved. Mr. Spacey willingly participated in a training process and since that time MRC has not been made aware of any other complaints involving Mr. Spacey."

At the beginning of this week, it emerged that Kevin Spacey had made unwanted sexual advances to Anthony Rapp, then 14 years old, at a party in 1986. After a controversial apology from the actor, which many have criticised for its focus on his sexuality rather than his inappropriate behaviour, another Hollywood figure has come forward with claims that Spacey was sexually inappropriate with him.   "I went up to order a drink and Kevin came up to me and put his arm around me. He was telling me to come with him, to leave the bar. He put his hand on my crotch forcefully and grabbed my whole package," he said, adding that Spacey had told him that, "this designates ownership". Tony Montana, a documentary filmmaker, claims he was groped by the Usual Suspects actor at an LA pub in 2003. In an interview with Radar, Montana recalled the incident, which he said left him with PTSD.

"I put my hand down and turned his thumb back to get his hand off it," said the filmmaker. "I paid for my drink and got away from him."

However, this did not deter Spacey, who apparently followed him to the bathroom even after he had been told to stop.

"I backed [Spacey] out the door and I pushed him," Montana explained. "One of his friends was in line and I said, 'It’s time to take your boy home.'"

After that, they all left - but Montana was left with lasting trauma.

"I never talked to anyone about it except for therapists," he said. "I had PTSD for six months after. It was an emasculating thing for someone to do to me. Whenever I went to the bar I would see if he was there or have my back against the wall." As with the allegations that have recently been levelled against Harvey Weinstein, many have come to question why exactly it took so long for these claims of assault to come out - and also why there seems to be a snowball effect of more people coming forward only after an original accusation has been made. But Montana explains that, "This wasn’t something people were talking about openly." He goes on to say:

"It still feels awkward. I still feel what I felt then. I put it into the back of my mind until I saw him come forward.

"When you’re trying to accomplish something in the industry, you have things that inspire you, that can help move you forward. You have set backs and haunted experiences. No matter what happens you have to keep going."

[[twitterwidget||https://twitter.com/KevinSpacey/status/924848412842971136]] In his original apology about the incident with Anthony Rapp, Spacey claims he is "beyond horrified" to hear about his actions - which he refers to as a "story" - claiming he does not remember what he did as he was drunk at the time. The second paragraph of his statement, however, detracts from the incident altogether, and instead focuses on his sexuality, with the House of Cards star saying, "I choose now to live as a gay man." Understandably, many people are angry at the lacklustre apology, and have criticised Spacey for blaming his drunkenness rather than taking accountability for his behaviour. Spacey's former theatre - the Old Vic - have even opened up a tip line so that any other victims have a place to come forward. As of yet, Spacey has yet to comment on the allegations raised by Tony Montana.  

Geena Davis has opened up about being hit on by Jack Nicholson - and how she avoided his advances.

The Thelma and Louise star, 66, explained how the advice of another famous friend helped her politely turn Nicholson down in a recent interview with the New Yorker.

Chatting to the magazine, Davis recalled how she was at a dinner with casting directors when the One Flew Over The Cuckoo Nest actor approached her.

"My modeling agent took me and a couple of other actor-slash-models to Hollywood to meet casting directors. He happened to know Jack Nicholson, and every single night Jack Nicholson had dinner with us," she explained.

Geena Davis at the 2022 Emmy Awards. Credit: Sipa US / Alamy

David went on to say that one day a note arrived under her door asking her to call Nicholson and giving her his number. When she rang, the Hollywood star allegedly asked her bluntly: "When is it gonna happen?"

Flustered, Davis was uncertain what to say. However, thankfully, she remembered the advice given to her by her friend and fellow A-Lister Dustin Hoffman.

Davis recalled what  Hoffman had said to say if a co-star ever fancied her: "Say, 'Well, you’re very attractive. I would love to, but it would ruin the sexual tension between us.'"

Jack Nicholson in 2010. Credit: Allstar Picture Library Ltd / Alamy

When Nicholson allegedly propositioned her, Davis remembered: "It immediately came into my head what to say: 'Uh, Jack, I would love to. You’re very attractive. But I have a feeling we're going to work together at some point in the future, and I would hate to have ruined the sexual tension between us.'"

"He was, like, 'Oh, man, where'd you get that?' So it worked," the Beetlejuice star added.

Meanwhile, this isn't the first time the star has had to rebuff the unwanted attention of an A-Lister.

Dustin Hoffman in 2011. Credit: Pictorial Press Ltd / Alamy

In her new memoir, Dying of Politeness, Davis claimed that Bill Murray once allegedly greeted her in a hotel suite with a massage device which he instead he use on her - no matter how much she refused.

Featured Image Credit: MediaPunch Inc / Alamy