Selma Blair and Rachel McAdams open up about being sexually harassed by James Toback
SELMA Blair and Rachel McAdams are opening up to be sexually harassed by Oscar-nominated director James Toback.
Blair, 45, appeared for the first time in the Los Angeles Times report that raised the allegations against Toback, 72, but she only agreed on anonymity. Speaking with Vanity Fair, Blair and McAdams detailed their distressing experiences.
The
Blair incident took place in 1999, when his representatives scheduled a
meeting with Toback to discuss a role in his new movie Harvard Man. His
representatives said that Toback would only meet in his hotel room,
despite Blair's insistence on that meet in the hotel restaurant.
"Against my best judgment, I went upstairs. I was nervous, and looking back, I do not think James Toback ever planned to go to the restaurant," he explained.Toback allegedly noted that Blair could be an "incredible actress," but said she had no "confidence." He then asked where his parents lived, and even allegedly threatened to kill his father, from whom he had distanced himself.
"I do it all the time," Blair recalled. "I know the people."
Then he proceeded to ask her to practice a naked monologue in order to "train" her. He told her that she "needed a lot of work". Then Toback allegedly started rubbing his penis and asked Blair: "Will you give me?"
Blair refused to have sex with him, knowing he was married and, according to him, had another girlfriend who could not "have enough sex."
"He said, 'It's okay.I can get into my pants.I have to rub against your leg.You have to pinch my nipples.And you have to look me in the eye,' Blair recalled Toback was telling him. "I thought, 'Well, if I can get out of here without being violated' ... '".
After it was over, Toback ended the meeting by threatening to kill her if she ever presented what she did to him. Blair told his boyfriend, but told him not to tell anyone. She admitted that she did not tell the truth before because she was afraid for her life.
McAdams
was 21 when his incident occurred, which also involved a role in
Harvard Man. Like Blair, McAdams was told to meet with Toback in his
hotel room. Uncomfortable but excited about the role, McAdams did.
"You know, I just have to tell you." I've masturbated countless times today thinking of you since we met in your audition, "recalls McAdams when Toback tells him when he arrived.
He then allegedly asked her to read multiple reviews of her films until she finally excused herself to go to the bathroom."I kept thinking, 'When will we get to the rehearsal part?' Then he went to the bathroom and left me some literature to read about him, "McAdams recalled. "When he came back, he said, 'I threw myself into the bathroom thinking about you, will you show me your pubic hair?
McAdams, now 38, left and the next day called his agent, who apparently knew Toback's reputation.
"She did it a lot, but she also said, 'I can not believe I did it again.' This is not the first time this has happened. "It was then that I got mad, because I felt like I was thrown into the lion's den and did not warn him I was a predator," recalls McAdams.
Blair, 45, appeared for the first time in the Los Angeles Times report that raised the allegations against Toback, 72, but she only agreed on anonymity. Speaking with Vanity Fair, Blair and McAdams detailed their distressing experiences.
The
Blair incident took place in 1999, when his representatives scheduled a
meeting with Toback to discuss a role in his new movie Harvard Man. His
representatives said that Toback would only meet in his hotel room,
despite Blair's insistence on that meet in the hotel restaurant."Against my best judgment, I went upstairs. I was nervous, and looking back, I do not think James Toback ever planned to go to the restaurant," he explained.Toback allegedly noted that Blair could be an "incredible actress," but said she had no "confidence." He then asked where his parents lived, and even allegedly threatened to kill his father, from whom he had distanced himself.
"I do it all the time," Blair recalled. "I know the people."
Then he proceeded to ask her to practice a naked monologue in order to "train" her. He told her that she "needed a lot of work". Then Toback allegedly started rubbing his penis and asked Blair: "Will you give me?"
Blair refused to have sex with him, knowing he was married and, according to him, had another girlfriend who could not "have enough sex."
"He said, 'It's okay.I can get into my pants.I have to rub against your leg.You have to pinch my nipples.And you have to look me in the eye,' Blair recalled Toback was telling him. "I thought, 'Well, if I can get out of here without being violated' ... '".
After it was over, Toback ended the meeting by threatening to kill her if she ever presented what she did to him. Blair told his boyfriend, but told him not to tell anyone. She admitted that she did not tell the truth before because she was afraid for her life.
McAdams
was 21 when his incident occurred, which also involved a role in
Harvard Man. Like Blair, McAdams was told to meet with Toback in his
hotel room. Uncomfortable but excited about the role, McAdams did."You know, I just have to tell you." I've masturbated countless times today thinking of you since we met in your audition, "recalls McAdams when Toback tells him when he arrived.
He then allegedly asked her to read multiple reviews of her films until she finally excused herself to go to the bathroom."I kept thinking, 'When will we get to the rehearsal part?' Then he went to the bathroom and left me some literature to read about him, "McAdams recalled. "When he came back, he said, 'I threw myself into the bathroom thinking about you, will you show me your pubic hair?
McAdams, now 38, left and the next day called his agent, who apparently knew Toback's reputation.
"She did it a lot, but she also said, 'I can not believe I did it again.' This is not the first time this has happened. "It was then that I got mad, because I felt like I was thrown into the lion's den and did not warn him I was a predator," recalls McAdams.
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