Julianne Moore and TV anchor Natalie Morales said they were sexually harassed by director James Toback, joining a growing list of women who have accused Toback of misbehavior.
“1. #JamesToback approached me in the 80’s on Columbus Ave with the same language– wanted me to audition, come to his apt,” Moore tweeted Tuesday to a Los Angeles Times writer, before sharing that Toback approached her more than once with the same offer. (RELATED: 38 Women Accuse Director James Toback Of Sexual Harassment)
@GlennWhipp 1 – #JamesToback approached me in the 80’s on Columbus Ave with the same language – wanted me to audition, come to his apt.
— Julianne Moore (@_juliannemoore) October 24, 2017
“2. I refused. One month later he did it again with the EXACT same language. I said ‘don’t u remember u did this before,” she added.
@GlennWhipp 2. I refused. One month later he did it again with the EXACT same language. I said don’t u remember u did this before?
— Julianne Moore (@_juliannemoore) October 24, 2017
Before the Academy Award-winning actress tweeted her experience, NBC “Today” host Natalie Morales shared on “Access Hollywood” Monday an even more disturbing encounter.
“I can personally speak from my own experience, I was in New York City about 25, 26 years old at the time, and I encountered him,” Morales explained. “He came up to me. I was coming home from work in Central Park.”
“Out of nowhere: ‘Hey, I’m a filmmaker, has anybody told you you have that look,'” she added. “I’m like, ‘yeah, bud.’ He then proceeds to pull out a manila envelope and he says: ‘Seriously, I’m a filmmaker.’ He had Variety or Hollywood Reporter, and he had a screenplay about Bugsy.”
“So I’m in Central Park, doing my walk, and he follows me in,” she continued. “I’m like, ‘there are thousands of people here. Nothing to be concerned about.’ He’s like, ‘No I’m writing a screenplay right now for this movie called ‘Two Girls and a Guy.’ Then he starts–let’s just put it this way, he makes it very clear with the conversation, as I’m walking and he’s walking along, that he wants to get me into a secluded area of the park, which I did not go there.”
“He also proceeded to say ‘if you want to be in the movies, you have to be willing to show yourself,'” Morales shared. “I’m like, ‘I’m leaving right now. I don’t want to be in the movies. I just want to make money, have a career.’ I left.”
Their stories sound very similar to claims made by more than 3o women in an expose Sunday in the Los Angeles Times detailing claims of sexual harassment against Toback.
Since Sunday’s article, close to 200 more women have reportedly made accusations against the 72-year-old “Bugsy” screenwriter.
Updating again: Since this story published on Sunday, 193 additional women have contacted me to talk about Toback. https://t.co/beVGHWpdmc
— Glenn Whipp (@GlennWhipp) October 23, 2017