With the profusion of sexual assault and harassment claims against Harvey Weinstein, both celebrities and non-celebrities alike have revealed their own experiences with this type of abuse. The latest to speak out? Selma Blair and Rachel McAdams who have told haunting accounts of harassment at the hands of James Toback.
In separate interviews with Vanity Fair, Selma and Rachel recall meetings with the Oscar-nominated screenwriter and director behind Bugsy and more recently, The Gambler.
Selma recounts that Toback asked her to audition for him naked and then requested her to let him rub against her, she explains, “I felt disgust and shame, and like nobody would ever think of me as being clean again after being this close to the devil. His energy was so sinister.” She then goes on to explain that he threatened her with violence if she told anyone about it.
Rachel reportedly also met with Toback under the guise of work for a role in Toback’s Harvard Man. The actress explains instead that their meeting was filled with inappropriate comments: “This has been such a source of shame for me – that I didn’t have the wherewithal to get up and leave,” she said. “I was very lucky that I left and he didn’t actually physically assault me in any way.”
Selma and Rachel are only two of more than 200 women who have accused Toback of inappropriate behaviour according to the LA Times. The director has unsurprisingly denied the allegations.
