Three more women have come forward with accusations of sexual misconduct against Dustin Hoffman, the prominent Hollywood star who first came under fire back in November for alleged harassment.
Variety has the report, in which Cori Thomas alleges that Hoffman exposed himself to her when she was only 16. Melissa Kester, meanwhile, claims that Dustin Hoffman sexually assaulted her while recording audio for the film Ishtar. A third woman, who spoke on the condition of anonymity, also slammed the long-time Hollywood veteran for alleged inappropriate behavior.
Since the time of publication, Hoffman’s attorney, Mark A. Neubauer, has outright denied all claims, calling the accusations against the actor “defamatory falsehoods.”
The first predatory incident occurred in 1980, when Cori Thomas, who was 16 at the time, wound up in a hotel room with Dustin Hoffman while waiting for her mother to collect her. According to the playwright, the actor proceeded to drop his towel after returning from the bathroom.
He was standing there naked. I think I almost collapsed, actually. It was the first time I had ever seen a naked man. 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.
These allegations become more sinister when the report mentions the incident involving Melissa Kester, who collaborated with Hoffman for the 1987 musical, Ishtar. Kester, who was dating another man at the time, met with Dustin Hoffman three times on set, and it was on the third occasion when the “flirtatious” Hoffman purportedly made an unwanted advance.
He literally just stuck his fingers down my pants. 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. He kind of laughed. Then I just ran out of there, and I sat in the bathroom crying. I thought, ‘Oh my God.’ I felt like I’d been raped. There was no warning. I didn’t know he would do that.
The third woman made a similar claim, stating that Dustin Hoffman‘s predatory behavior came when she was only 22.
There are people inches from us. 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.
The now 80-year-old actor was recently confronted by John Oliver about these mounting allegations, though as we alluded to before, both he and his attorney continue to deny all claims.
