James Toback, an Oscar-nominated director, has been given a court order to pay $1.6 billion following a sexual assault trial in New York.
Toback was one of the first to be singled out during the #MeToo movement back in 2017.
The verdict - delivered more than seven years after dozens of women came forward with allegations - includes $280 million in compensatory damages and a staggering $1.4 billion in punitive damages.
The civil suit, filed under New York’s Adult Survivors Act, gave survivors of sexual abuse a one-year window to bring forward claims, regardless of when the alleged incidents occurred, per News.com.au.
Toback, once nominated for an Oscar for his work on Bugsy, most recently directed The Private Life of a Modern Woman starring Sienna Miller and Alec Baldwin.
But his legacy has now been eclipsed by years of disturbing allegations, dating back decades, that he used his power and prestige in the film industry to prey on young women.
“This is not just a verdict — it’s validation,” said actress Mary Monahan, one of Toback’s victims, in an emotional statement after the ruling.
“For decades, I carried this trauma in silence, and today, a jury believed me. Believed us. That changes everything. This verdict is more than a number — it’s a declaration. We are not disposable. We are not liars. We are not collateral damage in someone else’s power trip. The world knows now what we’ve always known: what he did was real.
"And what we did — standing up, speaking out — was right.”
Toback has repeatedly denied the allegations, claiming that medical conditions including diabetes and a heart problem made it “biologically impossible” for him to engage in the behaviors described.
The jury clearly disagreed.
Toback’s name first exploded in headlines in 2017 when he was among the earliest high-profile figures swept up in the #MeToo movement.
Since then, a parade of celebrities and actors have spoken out about their own encounters with him, painting a portrait of a man who, for years, used the promise of auditions and fame as a guise for sexual misconduct.
Julianne Moore was among the first to reveal her experience.
“James Toback approached me in the 80s on Columbus Ave with the same language – wanted me to audition, come to his apt,” she tweeted. “I refused. One month later he did it again with the EXACT same language. I said don’t u remember u did this before?”
Ellen Pompeo, star of Grey’s Anatomy, also opened up about a creepy interaction with the director.
She told USA Today that she brought a male friend with her to a meeting with Toback, only to be propositioned the moment her friend stepped out.
“The minute my friend left, he asked me if I would get naked in a movie,” she said. “And I was like, ‘Really, dude? My friend has been missing all of 30 seconds and now you say that? I kind of laughed in his face.’”
Mean Girls star Rachel McAdams shared a similarly disturbing account, revealing that she thought she was showing up for an audition, only to be sexually propositioned instead. “It was all so confusing,” she told Vanity Fair.
“I kept thinking, ‘When are we getting to the rehearsal part?’… Eventually I just realised that it wasn’t [normal].”
Hollywood veteran Selma Blair also came forward, and countless others described Toback’s alleged behavior as part of a decades-long pattern.
He was accused of luring women off the streets of New York, promising them roles in films, only to trap them in uncomfortable and often predatory encounters.
The ruling is a massive moment in the ongoing fight for justice for survivors in the entertainment industry — and a reminder that even the powerful are not immune from accountability.