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Nearly 400 women claim filmmaker, James Toback, is a lot creepier than ‘Harvey Weinstein’ – Avalanche of sexual harassment allegations from victims

Mandatory Credit: Photo by Maria Laura Antonelli/REX/Shutterstock (9038917l) Director James Toback 'The Private Life Of A Modern Woman' photocall, 74th Venice Film Festival, Italy - 03 Sep 2017

&Tab;&Tab;<div class&equals;"wpcnt">&NewLine;&Tab;&Tab;&Tab;<div class&equals;"wpa">&NewLine;&Tab;&Tab;&Tab;&Tab;<span class&equals;"wpa-about">Advertisements<&sol;span>&NewLine;&Tab;&Tab;&Tab;&Tab;<div class&equals;"u top&lowbar;amp">&NewLine;&Tab;&Tab;&Tab;&Tab;&Tab;&Tab;&Tab;<amp-ad width&equals;"300" height&equals;"265"&NewLine;&Tab;&Tab; type&equals;"pubmine"&NewLine;&Tab;&Tab; data-siteid&equals;"109460728"&NewLine;&Tab;&Tab; data-section&equals;"1">&NewLine;&Tab;&Tab;<&sol;amp-ad>&NewLine;&Tab;&Tab;&Tab;&Tab;<&sol;div>&NewLine;&Tab;&Tab;&Tab;<&sol;div>&NewLine;&Tab;&Tab;<&sol;div><header id&equals;"ra-headers">&NewLine;<h6 id&equals;"ra-headline"><span style&equals;"color&colon; &num;0a0101&semi;"><strong>Flood of accusers allege &&num;8216&semi;The Pickup artist&&num;8217&semi; is far more sleazy than disgraced Hollywood mogul&comma; Harvey Weinstein<&sol;strong><&sol;span><&sol;h6>&NewLine;<h6><span style&equals;"color&colon; &num;0a0101&semi;"><strong>Women come forward with accusations of sexual harassment against another Hollywood movie maker<&sol;strong><&sol;span><&sol;h6>&NewLine;<h6><span style&equals;"color&colon; &num;0a0101&semi;"><strong>Victims detail nightmare encounter they each had with filmmaker James Toback&comma; who wrote and directed &OpenCurlyQuote;The Pick-Up Artist’ with Robert Downey and Molly Ringwald&comma; based the film on his own life&period; <&sol;strong><&sol;span><&sol;h6>&NewLine;<h6><span style&equals;"color&colon; &num;000000&semi;">395 women have come forward with sexual harassment allegations against James Toback <&sol;span><&sol;h6>&NewLine;<h6><span style&equals;"color&colon; &num;0a0101&semi;"><strong>Toback&comma; 72&comma; has denied and debunked all the allegations saying he&&num;8217&semi;s diabetic and has a heart condition which makes it &&num;8220&semi;biologically impossible&&num;8221&semi; for him to engage in the behavior claimed by his accusers <&sol;strong><&sol;span><&sol;h6>&NewLine;<h6><span style&equals;"color&colon; &num;0a0101&semi;"><strong>So far&comma; 31 alleged victims are willing to go on the reco<&sol;strong><strong>rd<&sol;strong><&sol;span><&sol;h6>&NewLine;<&sol;header>&NewLine;<div id&equals;"ra-body-wrap">&NewLine;<article id&equals;"ra-body">&NewLine;<h6 class&equals;"ra-caption"><img class&equals;"alignnone wp-image-287874" src&equals;"https&colon;&sol;&sol;konniemoments&period;com&sol;wp-content&sol;uploads&sol;2018&sol;01&sol;James-Toback-2&period;jpeg" alt&equals;"James Toback 2&period;jpeg" width&equals;"679" height&equals;"380" &sol;>Is screenwriter James Toback batting for 1000 sexual harassment allegation&quest; So far he is nearly at the 400 mark and counting&period; The Movie maker says he is innocent of the allegations<&sol;h6>&NewLine;<p>In the first week of 2018&comma; the Los Angeles County district attorney’s office announced that it was reviewing five investigations into accusations of sexual misconduct against filmmaker James Toback&period;<br &sol;>&NewLine;Shortly after accounts of Harvey Weinstein’s decades of alleged sexual harassment broke in the New York Times and the New Yorker&comma; five women outed Toback on Twitter&comma; using the &num;MeToo hashtag&period; Within days&comma; that list grew to more than three dozen&comma; at least 30 of whom were willing to go on the record&period;<br &sol;>&NewLine;to date the &&num;8220&semi;Two Girls and a Guy&&num;8221&semi; director&comma; 72&comma; has been accused of sexual assault and harassment by more than nearly 400 women&comma; including Selma Blair&comma; Rachel McAdams &comma; Julianne Moore&comma; as well as NBC host Natalie Morales&period;<br &sol;>&NewLine;&&num;8220&semi;Grey&&num;8217&semi;s Anatomy&&num;8221&semi; star Ellen Pompeo did not take kindly to an inappropriate comment by disgraced filmmaker James Toback early in her career — in fact&comma; the actress says she told him to &&num;8220&semi;go f&&num;8211&semi;k himself&period;&&num;8221&semi;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<h6><strong><img class&equals;"alignnone wp-image-287889" src&equals;"https&colon;&sol;&sol;konniemoments&period;com&sol;wp-content&sol;uploads&sol;2018&sol;01&sol;Meg-Register-1-1&period;jpg" alt&equals;"Meg Register 1&period;jpg" width&equals;"668" height&equals;"668" &sol;>Hypnotist Meg Register says James Toback seduced and abandoned her<&sol;strong><&sol;h6>&NewLine;<h6 class&equals;"ra-caption"><img class&equals;"alignnone size-full wp-image-287883" src&equals;"https&colon;&sol;&sol;konniemoments&period;com&sol;wp-content&sol;uploads&sol;2018&sol;01&sol;Ellen-Pompeo-1&period;jpg" alt&equals;"Ellen Pompeo 1&period;jpg" width&equals;"1200" height&equals;"846" &sol;>Ellen Pompeo says James Toback once asked her to get naked in a movie&comma; and she laughed in his face&&num;8221&semi; and told him to &&num;8220&semi;go f&&num;8211&semi;k himself&period;&&num;8221&semi;<&sol;h6>&NewLine;<p>Since then other victims have emerged to establish a four decade long pattern of predatory sexual behavior by the movie maker&period;<br &sol;>&NewLine;So far&comma; 395 have opened up about writer-director Toback approaching them on the streets of Manhattan and Los Angeles&comma; on trains and airplanes&period; Employing a near identical MO&comma; Toback would tell his mark that he wanted to cast them in a movie&comma; which often led to a range of unwanted&comma; predatory sexual advances&period; According to <a href&equals;"http&colon;&sol;&sol;www&period;nydailynews&period;com&sol;entertainment&sol;395-women-allegations-james-toback-article-1&period;3744468">NYDailynews  <&sol;a>the accusers&comma; all women&comma; have  offered highly detailed accounts&comma; and some shared physical evidence&comma; such as journal entries&comma; photographs of plane tickets&comma; receipts&comma; scraps of paper with Toback’s writing&comma; to reporters&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<h6><strong><img class&equals;"alignnone size-full wp-image-287876" src&equals;"https&colon;&sol;&sol;konniemoments&period;com&sol;wp-content&sol;uploads&sol;2018&sol;01&sol;James-Toback-4&period;jpg" alt&equals;"James Toback 4&period;jpg" width&equals;"1200" height&equals;"849" &sol;>Movie town icon James Toback speaks onstage at the Sixth Annual Norman Mailer Center and Writers Colony Benefit Gala in 2014 in New York City&period;<&sol;strong><&sol;h6>&NewLine;<p>In the liberating atmosphere of &num;MeToo&comma; some of the women were&comma; some were still ashamed&comma; others were angry&comma; since many incidents involving Toback&comma; have exceeded the statute of limitations&period;<br &sol;>&NewLine;Still there is a sense of relief that after years of acquiescence and silence their story is being told&comma; albeit too late for tangible consequences<br &sol;>&NewLine;And&comma; for many&comma; speaking out is just the opening salvo in what they hope will be systemic change in every workplace&comma; not just the entertainment industry&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<h6 class&equals;"ra-caption"><strong><img class&equals;"alignnone wp-image-287875" src&equals;"https&colon;&sol;&sol;konniemoments&period;com&sol;wp-content&sol;uploads&sol;2018&sol;01&sol;James-Toback-and-Harvey-Weinstein-1&period;jpg" alt&equals;"James Toback and Harvey Weinstein 1&period;jpg" width&equals;"709" height&equals;"435" &sol;>Beverly Hills police have opened investigations into former tinsel town untouchables James Toback &lbrack;left&rsqb; and Harvey Weinstein &lbrack;right&rsqb; since November&comma; 2017<&sol;strong><&sol;h6>&NewLine;<p>Juast as the &num;MeToo movement became &num;TimesUp&comma; on Monday&comma; more than 300 powerful Hollywood women&comma; including Reese Witherspoon&comma; Shonda Rhimes and Kerry Washington&comma; established an initiative to fight sexual harassment that includes a legal defense fund&comma; a gender parity push and a largely successful push to have all women walking the red carpet at last night’s Golden Globes ceremony wear black&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<h6><b><img class&equals;"alignnone wp-image-287885" src&equals;"https&colon;&sol;&sol;konniemoments&period;com&sol;wp-content&sol;uploads&sol;2018&sol;01&sol;Selma-Blair-1&period;jpg" alt&equals;"Selma Blair 1&period;jpg" width&equals;"667" height&equals;"499" &sol;>Actress Selma Blair allegedly has received death threats since she came out with  sexual assault allegations against James Toback <&sol;b><&sol;h6>&NewLine;<h6><b><img class&equals;"alignnone wp-image-287887" src&equals;"https&colon;&sol;&sol;konniemoments&period;com&sol;wp-content&sol;uploads&sol;2018&sol;01&sol;Rachel-McAdams-1&period;png" alt&equals;"Rachel McAdams 1" width&equals;"668" height&equals;"983" &sol;>Rachel McAdams has also come forward with sexual harassment stories about James Toback&period;<&sol;b><&sol;h6>&NewLine;<p>Toback&comma; 72&comma; is issuing a flat denial&comma; saying he&&num;8217&semi;s diabetic and has a heart condition which makes it &&num;8220&semi;biologically impossible&&num;8221&semi; for him to engage in the behavior claimed by his <a href&equals;"http&colon;&sol;&sol;www&period;insideedition&period;com&sol;videos&sol;15698-former-miramax-executive-describes-working-for-harvey-weinstein-as-a-madhouse">accusers<&sol;a>&period;<br &sol;>&NewLine;Toback has repeatedly called the women liars and saying he doesn’t even recall meeting some of them&period;<br &sol;>&NewLine;&OpenCurlyDoubleQuote;It&&num;8217&semi;s pathetic lies&period; It&&num;8217&semi;s just too f&&num;8211&semi;king embarrassing and idiotic&comma;” <a href&equals;"http&colon;&sol;&sol;www&period;rollingstone&period;com&sol;culture&sol;news&sol;james-tobacks-on-the-record-denial-of-allegations-w510346" target&equals;"&lowbar;blank" rel&equals;"noopener">he told a Rolling Stone reporter on Oct&period; 17<&sol;a>&period;<br &sol;>&NewLine;&OpenCurlyDoubleQuote;And if I were you&comma; I wouldn&&num;8217&semi;t go repeating it&comma; unless you really knew it were true&comma; because it isn&&num;8217&semi;t&period; So that&&num;8217&semi;s all I have to say&period; This is not worth wasting another second on&comma;” the high powered movie maker told the reporter<&sol;p>&NewLine;<h6><strong><img class&equals;"alignnone size-full wp-image-287884" src&equals;"https&colon;&sol;&sol;konniemoments&period;com&sol;wp-content&sol;uploads&sol;2018&sol;01&sol;Caterina-Scorsone-1&period;jpg" alt&equals;"Caterina Scorsone 1" width&equals;"1200" height&equals;"800" &sol;>Another &OpenCurlyDoubleQuote;Grey’s Anatomy” star&comma; Caterina Scorsone now 36&comma; claimed she was sexually harassed by director James Toback when she was 17&period;<&sol;strong><&sol;h6>&NewLine;<p>Many of the women to NYDailynews that speaking about their experience with Toback  left them feeling vulnerable&comma; but that the process was cathartic&period; And seeing other women declare their truth has empowered others to do the same&period;<br &sol;>&NewLine;&&num;8220&semi;Courage begets courage&comma;&&num;8221&semi; said actress Dani Alvarado&comma; who said she had a series of encounters with Toback in 2011&period; &&num;8220&semi;After years of feeling like there would never be any repercussions&comma; it’s been amazing to see the pendulum swing in a different direction&period;&&num;8221&semi;<br &sol;>&NewLine;&&num;8220&semi;When you have 38 women saying the same thing&comma; suddenly you feel like what happened to you actually means something&comma;&&num;8221&semi; noted Kandiss Edmundson&comma; who said she met Toback in 2001 when she was an aspiring actress&period; &&num;8220&semi;It proves a pattern&comma; which makes me feel like my story is valid&period; It’s real&period; No one can talk me out of the pain of it or downplay it or make me feel stupid or responsible or naive&period;&&num;8221&semi;<br &sol;>&NewLine;&&num;8220&semi;Shame keeps you silent&comma;&&num;8221&semi; added singer-actress Christine Hudman&comma; who&comma; like the others&comma; said she had an encounter with Toback that was framed as an audition but turned sexual&period; &&num;8220&semi;I’m not quite sure how to articulate what he took from me that day&comma; but by saying this&comma; I feel that I’m taking something back&period;&&num;8221&semi;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<h6><strong><img class&equals;"alignnone wp-image-287880" src&equals;"https&colon;&sol;&sol;konniemoments&period;com&sol;wp-content&sol;uploads&sol;2018&sol;01&sol;James-Toback-5&period;png" alt&equals;"James Toback 5" width&equals;"717" height&equals;"394" &sol;>Toback reportedly &OpenCurlyDoubleQuote;prowled the streets of Manhattan” plying his craft&period; He would go up to attractive young women offering movie roles&period;<&sol;strong><&sol;h6>&NewLine;<p>Most of the victims said they hadn’t spoken of their encounters with Toback since they occurred years earlier&period; Some hadn’t told their longtime spouses until now&period;&period; The trauma of the experiences ran too deep&period;<br &sol;>&NewLine;Several women related encounters with Toback that happened when they were underage&period; Many of the women wh all these years suppressed reliving the experience else saw it as an &&num;8216&semi;eccentric rite of passage&&num;8217&semi;&comma; now say &&num;8220&semi;What’s even more healing is the sense that people are finally listening&period;&&num;8221&semi;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<&sol;article>&NewLine;<&sol;div>&NewLine;<p>&nbsp&semi;<&sol;p>&NewLine;

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