There are some harsh words being bandied about in Hollywood since numerous women accused screenwriter and director James Toback of sexual harassment.
The allegations from more than 30 women came to light in a Los Angeles Times story published Sunday.
Toback’s agent, Jeff Berg, told CNN on Sunday he would pass a request for a comment on to his client. The director, 72, denied the allegations when contacted by the Los Angeles Times, according to the publication.
“Guardians of the Galaxy” director James Gunn posted Sunday on his official Facebook page that when he was living in New York City in the 1990s, Toback “was EVERYWHERE.”
“I have personally met at least FIFTEEN WOMEN, probably more, who say that he’s accosted them in NYC,” Gunn wrote. “He essentially goes up to women and says, ‘Hey, I’m James Toback, and I’m a famous director, and I feel like there’s a connection between us.’ Then he shows them some article on himself or some other artifact to prove he is who he is, and tries to get them to go somewhere else with him.”
Gunn wrote that three women whom he dated, two of his best friends, and a family member had alleged to him that Toback harassed them
“I don’t want to be attacking every Hollywood douchebag who hits on countless women,” Gunn wrote. “That type of behavior isn’t cool, but I think it’s important to separate douchebaggery from any kind of sexual coercion. But the women I talked to who DID go someplace private with Toback, told stories that were worse than the women only accosted on the street.”
Gunn also mentioned the March 1989 issue of the now defunct satirical Spy magazine that contained a story about Tobak.
Titled “The Pickup Artist’s Guide to Picking Up Women: A Case-by-Case Look at Movie Director James Toback’s Street Technique,” it outlined stories of more than a dozen women who alleged Toback tried to pick them up, including the writer of the piece, Vincenza Demetz.
Demetz wrote that Toback told her of the story, “If you print this piece, I promise it will be the single thing you regret most in your life.”
The accusations against Toback follow allegations of sexual misconduct made by more than 40 women against producer Harvey Weinstein.
One of the Weinstein accusers, actress Rose McGowan, tweeted Sunday “James Toback damn you for stealing, damn you for traumatizing.”
Actor/comedian/radio host John Fugelsang tweeted “I had no idea James Toback objectified women until I watched like any of his movies from the past 20 years.”
“Will & Grace” star Debra Messing also tweeted about the allegations.
“The damn [sic] has broke,” she wrote. “Women will no longer be silent. We have your back and will amplify.”
An update since this story originally published, Jeff Berg is no longer representing James Toback.