Popular host John Oliver got into a heated argument with veteran Hollywood actor Dustin Hoffman over sexual harassment allegations against the Oscar- winning actor at a film panel.
The duo was a part of a panel at the screening of the political drama Wag the Dog when Oliver questioned Hoffman about recent accusations levelled against him by author Anna Graham Hunter, when she was a minor while working as a production assistant on the 1985 TV film Death of a Salesman.
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Several scribes took to Twitter to live tweet the exchange.
As per The Washington Post scribe Steve Zeitchik, Hoffman “grew visibly uncomfortable” as Oliver confronted him, which was followed by a back-and-forth between the two.
After a point of time, the actor said, “You weren’t there,” to which the “Last Week Tonight” host replied, “I’m happy I wasn’t.”
Zeitchik added, after sometime, Hoffman touched upon the debate and accused Oliver of being biased and “unquestionably believing accusers”.
CBS News correspondent Laura Podesta tweeted, “‘You’ve made this incredible assumption about me, sir,’ Hoffman said to Oliver. Oliver says it’s something he had to bring it up before we watch the film #wagthedog.”
Interestingly, Wag The Dog, narrates the story of a spin doctor (Robert De Niro) from Washington, D C, who barely days before a presidential election, distracts the electorate from a sex scandal by hiring a Hollywood film producer, played by Hoffman, to construct a fake war with Albania.
Dade Hayes, Deadline’s contributing editor, wrote, “Dustin Hoffman and John Oliver getting into it at Tribeca Film Institute benefit. ‘What response do you want?’ – Hoffman ‘It doesn’t seem self-reflective in the way the situation demands’ – Oliver.”
Last month, in an article written for The Hollywood Reporter, Hunter opened up about the episode, along with the notes she took as a teenager detailing what transpired on the sets in the fives weeks she was there.
Hoffman responded to the story, saying, “I have the utmost respect for women and feel terrible that anything I might have done could have put her in an uncomfortable situation. I am sorry. It is not reflective of who I am.