NEW YORK (AP) — Hollywood’s widening sexual harassment crisis has ensnared a prominent film director after six women — including actress Olivia Munn — accused Brett Ratner of sexual assault or misconduct in a Los Angeles Times report on Wednesday.
The reverberations also reached back 32 years as Oscar-winner Dustin Hoffman came forward to apologize for allegedly sexually harassing a 17-year-old intern in 1985.
Writer Anna Graham Hunter alleges in a Wednesday column in The Hollywood Reporter that the now 80-year-old actor groped her on the set of TV movie “Death of a Salesman” and “talked about sex to me and in front of me.”
Hoffman issued a statement Wednesday, apologizing for “anything I might have done could have put her in an uncomfortable situation. I am sorry. It is not reflective of who I am.”
Munn also complained about onset behavior, alleging that while visiting the set of Ratner’s “After the Sunset” in 2004, he masturbated in front of her in his trailer. Munn described the incident, without naming Ratner, in a 2010 collection of essays.
Representatives for Ratner didn’t immediately respond to queries Wednesday. Ratner directed the “Rush Hour” film series, “Red Dragon,” ”X-Men: The Last Stand” and “Tower Heist.” Warner Bros., which has a first-look deal with Ratner, said in a statement: “We are aware of the allegations in the LA Times and are reviewing the situation.”
The LA Times report describes other encounters where Ratner aggressively pursued actresses, sometimes following them into a bathroom.
Ratner and Hoffman become the latest Hollywood figures to face allegations of misusing their power to harass actresses, a list that now includes producer Harvey Weinstein and writer-director James Toback. Harassment allegations have also been levied against actors Kevin Spacey and Jeremy Piven.
Police in Beverly Hills on Tuesday announced they have launched criminal investigations over complaints received about Weinstein and Toback. Weinstein also is being investigated for sexual assault or rape by police in Los Angeles, New York and London.
Weinstein has denied engaging in any non-consensual sexual contact. His representative, Sallie Hofmeister, had no comment on the Beverly Hills investigation. The department said late Tuesday that it was investigating Weinstein and Toback after receiving “multiple complaints,” although the department did not specify the nature of the complaints.
Dozens of women, including actresses Selma Blair and Rachel McAdams, have alleged that Toback sexually harassed or assaulted them.
Toback has denied the allegations. He does not have a representative to field inquiries about the criminal investigation.
Repercussions have been swift after allegations against Weinstein surfaced. Weinstein was fired from the company he founded within days after initial reports of sexual harassment were published and Netflix suspended production on its final season of “House of Cards” on Tuesday amid allegations star Spacey made a sexual advance on actor Anthony Rapp in 1986 when he was 14.
The decision to pause production Tuesday came before a second actor leveled allegations against Spacey.
Mexican actor Roberto Cavazos wrote on his Facebook page that he encountered Spacey at the bar of London’s Old Vic Theatre, where Spacey was artistic director from 2004-15, and the actor tried to fondle him against his will.
Cavazos declined an interview request. There was no reply to a request for comment from representatives for Spacey.
In a statement Tuesday, the theater expressed “deep dismay” at the allegations and said “inappropriate behavior by anyone working at The Old Vic is completely unacceptable.”
Also Tuesday, CBS said it is “looking into” accusations by actress and reality star Ariane Bellamar that Emmy-winning “Entourage” star Piven groped her on two occasions.
On her Twitter account Monday, Bellamar alleged that one encounter took place in Piven’s trailer on HBO’s “Entourage” set and the other occurred at the Playboy Mansion.
Piven, who stars in the new CBS series “Wisdom of the Crowd,” said in a statement that he “unequivocally” denies the “appalling allegations being peddled about me.”
“It did not happen. It takes a great deal of courage for victims to come forward with their histories, and my hope is that the allegations about me that didn’t happen, do not detract from stories that should be heard,” he said.
HBO, which aired the 2004-11 series, said in a statement that it was unaware of Bellamar’s allegations until they were reported by media.
What bothers me about all these men getting in trouble for inappropriate behavior toward women 30 years ago is that for most of that time Clarence Thomas has been and remains a Supreme Court Justice with lifetime tenure. Everyone knew at the time of his conformation hearing, especially those of us who worked with and around women, that Thomas was lying and Anita Hill was telling the truth because up until those hearings almost all men behaved that way toward women in the workplace.
That is it was not until Anita Hill let us men know the behavior was not appreciated, that we changed our behavior. I for example have not told a dirty joke to a woman coworker since Anita Hill testified before Congress.
So before we go after all these actors and other men for what is today, and should have been since 1990 when Anita Hill testified, we should start by insisting Clarence Thomas be forced to resign or be impeached for not only his inappropriate behavior toward women before being appointed to the Court, but also for lying about it under oath.
And Donald Trump is President, FFS!
This is going to end up like the day-care child abuse “scandal” of 20 years ago—real misconduct will be conflated with lies and imaginary events to destroy a lot of people who haven’t done anything.
I don’t for a minute doubt that many awful acts have been committed by assorted people in positions of power or trust.
But some of this will turn out to be imaginary, revenge, or even Munchhausen syndrome. It always happens that way, and some good people are going to get tarred by this.
The Little Rascals daycare case still gets me angry.
“It is not reflective of who I am.” Your behavior does not reflect who you are?