"I made some women uncomfortable": Dustin Hoffman addresses sexual harassment and assault allegations in new memoir

Dustin Hoffman revisits the sexual misconduct allegations that surfaced during Hollywood’s #MeToo movement in 2017 in his new memoir, Look at Me, while denying claims that he pressured or assaulted women.

The 89-year-old actor reflects on the controversy in a chapter discussing his experiences working on the films Straw Dogs and Tootsie.

Although he does not address individual accusations in detail, he acknowledges that some women might have felt uncomfortable around him.

“I’m sure it’s true that in my life, especially forty years ago, I made some women uncomfortable. But ‘uncomfortable’ is a subjective emotional state. What is crass and offensive to one person, another individual might find hilarious, or enlivening, or even sort of cozy.”

He also describes in his memoir his sense of humor and flirtatious personality, calling himself “out there” and recalling Bill Murray's description of him as “a Borscht Belt flirt.”

“That’s not the same thing as pressuring someone to do something they didn’t want to do.”

Dustin Hoffman talks #MeToo movement, reveals he went “into a state of shock” following allegations

The actor also addresses the wider #MeToo movement, saying he initially welcomed the reckoning in Hollywood because women in the industry had endured mistreatment for too long.

In excerpts revealed by USA Today, the veteran actor writes that he never expected allegations to emerge against him because, in his words, taking something sexually from someone without their consent was something he had never done.

“When a reckoning started making its way around the internet, and tearing through Hollywood, I thought it was a very good thing. I knew by then that plenty of women had put up with way too much for way too long in my industry.”

Dustin Hoffman added that as his name was in the headlines, everything changed for him.

“There was no innocent until proven guilty. There was no ‘proving’ anything at all. Lisa [Hoffman] says I went into a state of shock. ‘I’ve got to get out of here,’ I told her. ‘I’ve got to get away from every other human being.’ We hid in our house in Connecticut.”

In 2017, six women made allegations against Dustin Hoffman, including claims of sexual harassment, assault, and exposing himself to a minor.

One woman received a public apology from the actor, while his lawyer described assault allegations made by two others as “defamatory falsehoods”.

Dustin Hoffman compares the public scrutiny to the McCarthy era, arguing that he felt there was no presumption of innocence during the controversy.

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“The only problem was that things were being said about me that just weren’t true.”

Dustin Hoffman’s memoir, Look at Me, was released on Nov. 10.

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