Who is James Toback, what’s his net worth, what are his biggest movies and what are the sexual harassment allegations?
Here's the lowdown on the screen writer who has had allegations of inappropriate behaviour made against him by more than 30 women
JAMES Toback is the latest Hollywood big shot to be accused of sexual harassment.
Here's the lowdown on the screen writer who has had allegations of inappropriate behaviour made against him by more than 30 women.
Who is James Toback?
Toback is an American screenwriter from New York City.
He graduated from Harvard in 1966 and started out as a journalist for a number of magazines including Esquire.
In the early 70s he became a creative writing teacher in New York before he moved into screen writing.
In 1974 he wrote crime movie The Gambler starring James Caan, catapulting him into Hollywood circles.
What are his biggest movies?
The 72-year-old has written a number of hit pictures and even been nominated for Oscars in his time.
In 1991 he wrote Bugsy, the story of mobster Bugsy Siegel staring Warren Beatty in the title role.
The movie was a smash hit with critics and was nominated for a total of ten Academy Awards.
Toback also wrote and directed Two Girls and a Guy, When Will I Be Loved, and the documentary Tyson about boxer Mike Tyson.
What are the sexual harassment allegations?
Toback is alleged to have harassed 38 women by dry-humping their legs, masturbating in front of them, and ejaculating in his trousers.
The allegations were first reported by the Los Angeles Times who detailed how the director convinced women to meet him under the impression it was an interview or audition.
Several women alleged that these meetings took place in his hotel room and that Toback would namedrop star actors he was working with to entice them.
He is alleged to have told them that he could make them famous if they trusted him.
One alleged victim, who remains anonymous, said she believed she would be auditioning for Toback when he invited her to his hotel room in 2000.
He allegedly told her that she needed to display the sexual confidence the acting role required and suggested she get undressed.
She said she told him that she felt uncomfortable and that he responded by saying: "That's the whole point of this exercise."
Eventually she took off her jumper but began to cry as she read lines from the monologue he had given her.
She claimed that he blocked the hotel room door when she tried to leave and told her that he needed to ejaculate.
He instructed her to pinch his nipples and look into his eyes as he pressed himself against her and finished in his trousers, it was reported.
Another alleged victim was aspiring actress Starr Rinaldi who alleged that she was approached by Toback in New York's central park 15 years ago.
She said: "He always wanted me to read for him in a hotel or come back to his apartment.
"[He said things] like, 'how serious are you about your craft?'"
None of the women detailed in the article contacted police for fear of recriminations and some claimed he had threatened them.
Toback has denied the allegations and cited health difficulties, including diabetes and a heart condition, as to why it was "biologically impossible" for him to have committed the acts of sexual harassment.
And he said that he had never met any of the women, or if he had “was for five minutes and [I] have no recollection”.
When contacted by The Sun Online, Toback said he had "nothing to say".
