Another day, another series of horrific stories about sexual assault and abuse at the hands of a powerful Hollywood player. We discussed the strange and lurid case of James Toback earlier this week – while Toback was never as well-known or powerful as Harvey Weinstein, Toback’s depraved history was apparently well-known in actors’ circles and among young actresses just starting out. Toback – a screenwriter and director – would literally pick up women at malls and acting schools and get them alone in a hotel room and do terrible things to them or in front of them. The LA Times did an extensive story last weekend, with 38 women coming forward to talk about Toback’s years of abuse. Just in the past week, that number has risen to 200. Julianne Moore quietly spoke about her Toback experience several days ago, and now Selma Blair and Rachel McAdams have stepped out to discuss their experiences.
Both McAdams and Blair were called in to audition for Toback in 1999, for his film Harvard Man. Selma was a young, unestablished actress – she says that she had filmed Cruel Intentions but it had not come out yet. Rachel was a 21-year-old theater student in Toronto when she auditioned for Toback. You can read their full stories here at Vanity Fair. I’m not going to excerpt from the stories – I wouldn’t know where to start and the stories are getting increasingly graphic. That’s the point though, and props to Selma and Rachel for telling their stories on their terms, and taking the time to explain how uncomfortable they felt, how violated, how victimized. Selma even says that for years, she was terrified that Toback would come back into her life, or that he would actually hurt her physically even after he assaulted her at her audition.
McAdams makes some good points too, that Toback was a predator, but he had a good line, which threw her off completely. McAdams says that he spoke like someone well-versed in the language of acting classes, that young actors are taught that they need to get out of their comfort zones, that feeling “uncomfortable” is good for actors, so that when McAdams felt uncomfortable in her audition, she didn’t know how to process whether he was manipulating her as a predator or whether he was legitimately trying to “coach” her performance. McAdams also said that her agent sent her into the audition knowing full well that Toback had abused/harassed another actress. WHICH IS THE PROBLEM. Have you noticed how few AGENTS and managers and publicists have come forward to condemn James Toback and Harvey Weinstein? Gee, I wonder why that is?
Photos courtesy of WENN.
Again we knew this from other stories that agents and publicists sent women into these situations unaware and not prepared. It’s vile.
I’m just very very tired of reading these. And I cannot imagine how the victims actually feel
That’s what happened with Cosby, isn’t it?
Becoming clearer and clearer that Hollywood is the Catholic Church 2.0. Nobody’s coming out unscathed.
True. Corey Feldman is making a documentary about a pedophile ring in Hollywood.
I didn’t mean that particularly, although I will say the British political establishment is also plagued with constant undercurrent rumours of paedo rings.
I more meant that there’s been institutional abuse of women for years and years and years in Hollywood, and everyone knew about it to some degree or other. Just as everyone knew about the abuses of the Catholic church.
Yeah I know. But hearing Hollywood and Catholic Church reminded me of the Cory Feldman story I read the other day. But prior to that I had also thought about the similarities between Hollywood and the Catholic Church.
The clergy sexual abuse crisis was never just a Catholic Church problem. It was always a societal problem and those of us who stood up to the church when the revelations started happening were always clear on that point. Power protects power, and systemic abuse occurs when institutions empower predators. If the Church’s example is a guide, it will take Hollywood a LONG time before it implements the kind of reforms that will lead to true change.
“systemic abuse occurs when institutions empower predators”
EXACTLY.
Wasn‘t Selma having this meltdown on the plane and she said something along the lines that someone burns her private parts? Maybe a result of bad experiences like this.
I thought of that when she mentioned being estranged from her father.
It’s so disgusting that men like this try to figure out how vulnerable women are. Kate Beckinsale said the same about Harvey, that he was obviously trying to figure out if she had a family support system at all.
I’m reminded of The Keepers, where Father Maskell specifically targets children who confess being victims of prior sexual abuse to him. It’s so sick to think of a man preying upon children/women who have already suffered so much, who already are feeling shamed and vulnerable.
Just sociopathic.
Yes, that’s a consistent pattern of abusers (Fr. John Geoghan also targeted young people from divorced families in part because they were more vulnerable and in part because children from troubled homes are less believed).
What can be done to protect women from these powerful men. This abuse will continue to happen if nothing is done. We can talk about this until the cows come home and it will continue to happen unless something is done.
I think any and all auditions and meetings are going to need to be chaperoned from now on, for all actors of all gender and ages. They’re going to have to regulate the shit out of Hollywood to get anyone to trust it again
No more one-on-one meetings.
Clear anonymous whistle-blowing procedures.
Code of conduct adopted by: unions, agencies, all other industry areas and institutions, including the Academy and all the rest of them.
Industry to fund code of conduct compliance organisation.
Code of conduct enforced on pain of: labour withdrawals by unions, professional association membership cancellations, eligibility for local and national government tax credits withdrawn, possible criminal prosecutions for sexual assault.
(None of this is likely to happen.)
Yes to this! Structural, institutional change is what is needed, but who is going to push for it? In Australia we have Royal Commissions, which are a kind of independent legal investigation of an important issue, where anyone can be compelled to testify. They don’t happen very often, but there is one going at the moment into institutional child sexual abuse (mostly in the church), and they are incredibly powerful tools for promoting cultural and legal change. It is a pity the US doesn’t have anything like that.
In the UK we’ve moved from Royal Commissions to what we call public inquiries. They’re judge-led and they often lead to legislation or institutional change.
I wonder if trolling Hollywood would work. For example, hire someone with computer skills to construct a website consisting of maps of various studios and agencies. People can submit their stories/experiences and name names, including the agents and managers who send these actors/actresses to these people. In Terry Crews’ case, add other venues so those who were harassed/assaulted can report their incidents.
Make sure the website is secure as fcuk!
Shame, ongoing, relentless shaming will be the only fuel to facilitate change, IMO.
This has occurred to me as well — a very secure website where people can write anonymously about their experiences with agents, producers etc.
What would stop someone vengeful like Harvey from submitting anonymous allegations about people he didn’t like in the industry? Hollywood is full of people like him.
The unions need to establish some kind of investigative arm where complaints can be filed and investigated.
If a producer harasses an actress, she should be able to report him to the PGA and SAG/AFTRA. Patterns of repeat offenders would become apparent very quickly.
Offenders could be reported to the producer’s employer, and the employer, and the PGA could take action against the offender.
I’ve never believed in responding in kind because it tends to harm without exception including innocents. I understand the thought and desire behind it though.
This is s widespread on a global level – women in France marched today for #me too – I’m hopeful this will lead to permanent change via human beings standing up for each other. In Kenya they’re running an excellent program which has reduced rape incidents by 50%. Education is a key component to this.
They need to have the “school teachers” for child actors on set be completely independent of the producers. As it is now the teacher works for the production, that needs to change to make these kids safer and to take power over the teachers away from potential abusers. I was astonished when working on set with kids how little attention the teachers paid, that system is a joke.
In the Army they have an IG that a person can go to to make complaints outside the chain of command if they fear reprisals. It’s corrupt, but the concept is good. A complete outside investigating organization that has power over the production. Like if SAG authorized them to shut down sets if things are going on that shouldn’t be.
Only box office matters in Hollywood.
Pick two or three BIG films and tank their opening weekend numbers with a ticket boycott. That might shake people up.
There could be rules set in place by the union, but that wouldn’t protect the most vulnerable, those who are just starting out.
If you want to add an extra dose of gross, vile, repulsive and so on, look at Alec Baldwin’s Twitter exchange with journalist Kayla Cobb. He’s gone method. Trump himself wouldn’t have written a better tweet. Disgusting.
He’s defending his friend while being so offensive and sexist, I can’t help but think we’re being pranked.
Selma’s story brought tears to my eyes. When she talks about her cheeks burning because she was so embarrassed. It felt raw. I wanted to reach out and hug her.
I just read what Alec Baldwin wrote about the James Toback situation, and it is disgusting. I hope he is held accountable for such sexist views and for working with this scumbag on numerous projects.
My GOD he is such an asshole.
Why did he bring up Gawker? I think he’s confusing Decider with Defamer. His comments about plastic surgery and divorces make no sense otherwise. The woman is a TV critic.
Of course he’s a misogynistic, homophobic rageaholic, so maybe looking for sense in his comments is pointless.
OMG at Selma’s story!
It’s weird because I think Sarah Michelle Gellar had this part in Harvard Man that so many young women went up for. At the time, she was one of the hottest actresses in that 18-24 range and I’m sure the part was hers from the jump, so he must’ve been lying saying this part was up for grabs, when it wasn’t.
She did but she put restrictions in her contract on how far she would go with sex scenes and nudity. So that tells me that the finish product would have been worse if she did not.
It’s strange because Selma and Sarah are friends. Maybe they weren’t tight then or maybe Selma didn’t want to talk about it.
There were two other prominent, for lack of a better word, roles in that film from Rebecca Gayheart and Joey Lauren Adams. These are likely the roles up for audition because if I remember correctly, the daughter role was always with SMG in mind. That seems creepy now.
I think above posters are correct in that Toback only attempted this crap with actresses he thought he could get away with it with.
They’re really close friends too. I think in SMG’s case, she was already pretty established by then whereas Selma (and Rachel) were not. The newbs, while not exclusively singled out, are more susceptible it seems to these assholes. I can’t think of anything worse than being nervous because you’re auditioning for a role that could kickstart your career, or pay the next few months’ rent, and have to be your best, and on top of all that you’re suddenly accosted by some leering man who thinks you owe him some “gratitude” of the physical nature. Disgusting.
Love both of these women. So sorry that they had to experience this. Regulating the industry is the only way to go.
there’s currently more than 310 women that have come forward against him. that’s un-f-ing-real.
https://twitter.com/i/moments/923675972351774720
Whoa. 1 is one too many. 300+ is insane. I saw on the Julianne Moore link the NY DA is encouraging his victims to call a hotline. They’re looking to potentially charge him, I hope Los Angeles is doing the same.
Regulating the industry from the outside and they’ll scream blue murder about constricting their artistic freedom or some other excuse, regulate it from the inside and I really can’t see anything changing because the rich and powerful don’t want it to change. Why should they, they’ve had carte blanc to do what they like for decades, they won’t give that up easily. I suspect it will take criminal convictions and changes in the law to effect any real difference, that would mean changing and strengthening labour laws to prevent further abuses, we’ll see if that happens but I’m not holding my breath. The Jimmy Saville case in the UK resulted in some convictions for abusers but we still have allegations against British politicians abusing their power to harass women so clearly even that case didn’t give any of these men pause for thought and I have no real idea what will.
There is something sordid about how these stories are being reported:
-little investigative work
-lots of graphic details about pretty young women and forced abuse
I’m not criticizing how victims choose to tell their stories, but rather how the reporting is becoming more and more voyeuristic. Is anyone ever going to interview an agent, the SAG director, a studio exec and really press them?! Does anyone believe there’s no abuse of young men going on, of LGBT actors? Ugh, it just seems like the press and public want stories of hot actresses who had to show their bodies and be touched, not real change.
No, because journalism is dead. I’m not even being facetious, I actually mean that. I don’t know what happened to follow-up questions, for example. Even the best reporters and news anchors seem to let things go very quickly. It’s ridiculous.
None of the people can be forced into interviews either. I think in the end, it’ll be on the women and men to stand up for themselves and say no, this is bullsh*t. And that might impact their careers so we’re back where we started. Rachel McAdams made a good point though. Where is their union??? I know unions have gotten a bad rep in the US and it sometimes seems like the days of the unions are over but clearly, they serve a purpose.
The sinister underbelly of the entertainment industry is being exposed, at least some of it. The magnitude of it is more than I ever could have imagined.
It’s a lot worse than I imagined. Having read about studio system days (1930s-50s), I assumed some consensual activities still happened and probably a few bad situations with mostly underage performers. But not this volume and in times when someone can blast what happened on social media within seconds.
He wrote the film The Pick Up Artist from his own experiences. That film was creepy then, no matter how charming RDJ was in it, and twice as creepy now.
It makes me wonder what the studio had him cut to make that film a rom com.
It’s so awesome these creeps are getting exposed! Also, Selma and Rachel are really great actors. Selma in Purple Violets was so good.
Powerful image from Selma Blair:
He looked at me with those bug eyes that had just raped my leg. And I said, “Yes. I understand.”
I’ve noticed that quite a bunch of people are very moderate/careful about what they say on this general topic, and while I don’t judge those for whom it may be a triggering subject, some organizations and male public figures or influential people honestly come across as fearing that if they condemn already exposed perpetrators they also can’t/shouldn’t/will inevitably be called out if they do stay silent on the ones not yet exposed. I kind of can’t help but presume that they feel too many in their immediate environment are like that and nothing can be done except replacing just about everyone they work with which they probably consider too hard and overwhelming to do. So they just watch and stop working with the scandalous ones and keep their mouths shut in case someone else they work with gets exposed and has to be removed from their circles.
In 1985 when I was an acting student in NYC, a fellow student told me that he had approached her with the same lines: “You’re beautiful, are you an actress, I am writing a movie you would be perfect for, why don’t you come to audition?” . He took her to a hotel room where it devolved into sexual contact (she was not specific with me). All these years I was bothered by this story, and any time I saw one of his films I was disturbed by the sexual content I saw described (especially the Neve Campbell shower scene). Directors, agents etc. use gratuitous nudity as a way to get off–which is why I get so disturbed by it in films–I know it is not just to sell the film but often for the gratification of the filmmaker. As a young actress in NYC, I was SO naive, as you are at that age in general. Situations where I was coerced into taking my clothes off for photos because “everyone does it” are the norm. I think it is very hard for men to understand how easy it is to be dominated by them when they are in charge (which is virtually every time), and speaking up is dangerous physically, professionally, personally. Even men I love in my own family are hostile towards women in ways they don’t understand. This past month I have felt the trauma of my past, the rage of being powerless in these situations, recur again and again.
“I can’t believe he did it again. This isn’t the first time that this has happened. He did this the last time that he was in town. He did this to one of my other actresses.”
I was disgusted reading this story, but this part enraged me the most. The agent knew. SHE KNEW that he was attempting to assault young actresses and yet she still sent her to him. Not even a f-cking warning.
It’s the most enraging part. Hollywood directors get away with r-ping women because nobody stands up or does anything. It’s so enraging.
I seriously hoped she dumped that agent, who is really complicit in these attacks.
Yes, that was a horrible revelation. What a soulless agent. It should be criminal.
Honestly I dug around to try and figure out who this agent is/was because she deserves to be shamed and shamed repeatedly and publicly. My jaw dropped at that. I hope whomever that woman is when she reads this article she fully understands what a piece of trash she is.
On Massage, etc.:
I am seeing a disturbing parallel between power brokers in H’wood who employ massage as part of their sexual harassment battle strategy on their victims and the use of massage as a trust technique for actors in training.
First, after reading Lupito N’yongo’s own experience with Weinstein, I was disheartened to read in her piece that body massage exercises to build trust are still going on in the reputable schools.
I trained for the acting biz at a professional acting school, and full body massage exercises were one of the questionable practices demanded in class. The male actor’s hands would inevitably, accidentally, wander over to my breasts and unapologetically, vigorously, massage my buttocks.
But I couldn’t be offended because the exercise was meant to build trust.
I was 16.
We had a megalomaniacal instructor who insisted on these kinds of exercises. I was so young and I worshipped him and did whatever he wanted, even if my personal code of ethics was sometimes challenged. One day, he demanded I take off my clothes in front of all my peers to prepare for a role. I was on my period and feeling bloated and wearing a long tee to cover my belly. I began to lift my shirt because he was yelling at me, insisting I strip and that my hesitancy was wasting everybody’s time, and I said, “I can’t do it.” And barked at me, “That’s a problem.” And I knew I had failed and I feared I was never going to make it as an actor because I was too prude to handle all of the job requirements.
Too many in positions of power exploit the ‘nature of the business’ and take full advantage to prey on actors. Massage is one inroad that first becomes a tool and then a weapon used by the powerful on actors who are used to massage as a trust technique to put them in compromising positions.
Too many acting training classes involve exposing the inner and private lives of very fragile people. Actors who come from shitty family situations think that someone is finally listening to them and understanding them as they reveal themselves. So there’s often a bullshit pseudo therapy component, which in the wrong hands can be used and manipulated and devastating to the soul of the actor.
I think unnecessary and inappropriate components are built into the young actor’s training requirements as a symptom of the general sickness of the business of acting.
Male actors must be fit enough to remove their shirts (such is written into Aidan Turner’s contract for his turn in “Poldark”); and we all know that women actors must still, forever, and always be ‘f&*kable.’
Writers must still write ‘f%&kable’ roles for the pleasure of studio heads and producers who use trust massage techniques in the casting couch process.
And we’re all trained for this diseased system with massages and demands to remove clothing with the caveat that if we can’t just lie back and enjoy it we need to find something else to do.
Training an actor should be all about preparing the work of communicating Truth on stage and on film, so that training boils down to teaching people how to speak and how to move and how to build a character without opening one’s own veins or baring one’s whole soul. Emotional availability is of course so very important, but not to the extent where the actor is metaphorically and literally stripped naked and forced out in the middle of the street in order to get the decent performance.
What is the point of introducing intimate body massage into legitimate acting training exercises, such as Lupita Nyongo’s described experiences at Yale, or at my school, if not to gratify someone’s sexual urges or to reinforce the acting master’s power over the student and the producer or director over the employee?
No small wonder so many sexual predators in Hollywood are using that massage ruse to get actors just where they want them.
Selma’s story brought tears to my eyes. I wish her well and send her all the support I can muster. Hope to see her in many more movies in future. And I really hope that the women and men sharing their stories will lead to a change not just in the power corridors of Hollywood, but in the way we train our actors and the parts we write for them.
You bring up so many important points. Well done.
Thank you.
@coqui insightful post. I didn’t realize that some of these issues start early, at the drama school phase, with people so young and impressionable. Gives an insight into potentially why so many actresses had problems admitting to themselves they were being assaulted and why there’s a widespread culture of secrecy and shame re sexual harassment in the performing arts (or at least an emphasis right now).
Thanks for sharing these details.
Thanks, yes, I went to drama school a long time ago, but it seems the massage, that I would argue is not at all effective for preparation, is still being utilized by Yale, even. I think schools need more improv classes, far more voice and diction, more movement – dance or martial arts or pilates (name your favorite) – and less mirroring, and let’s get rid of the massage full stop unless it’s called for in a scene and has a point to it.
Oh, and no more hotel room meetings! We had Coogan’s Law that protected child actors from exploitation; let’s do the same for older actors. Agents and managers must stop sending their lambs out to the slaughter in hotel room meetings. Only professional settings for meetings and auditions. Hotel conference or event rooms are so easy to book. Local libraries often offer them for free. And there should be another individual present to observe, just like we have at the gynecological exam.
James Toback denies sexual harassment allegations, calls accusers ‘A lying c-ocksucker or c-nt or both’
http://www.rollingstone.com/culture/news/james-tobacks-on-the-record-denial-of-allegations-w510346
When the 1st Toback post came up on Monday, I mentioned that he used to come into my job years ago and he and I would talk about writing (no funny business on his part). I had read some stories about him through, I think, Page Six over the years but they weren’t particularly detailed. Reading the specifics in all of these actresses’ stories since this weekend has genuinely creeped me out and made me thank my lucky stars that he did not try anything with me.
A few hours after I made my comment on Monday, this dude showed up at my job! My job had changed locations and I hadn’t seen him in maybe 4 years but THAT was the day, of all frickin’ days, that I saw him again. I don’t think he noticed me (different hairdo) but I definitely noticed him. I will shamelessly admit that I hid in the back until he left! I didn’t want to get pulled into an awkward “oh hey what have you been up to?” kind of conversation.
I know my story does not compare to what these ladies went through. At all. But I have definitely been sexually harassed over the years and I hope that these floodgates stay open and force institutional changes in every industry.