During the Q&A section of a special Wag the Dog screening at the 92nd St. Y Monday night, John Oliver surprised guest Dustin Hoffman—and the audience—by bringing up the harassment allegations made against him this year by Anna Graham Hunter.
Per Deadline, Oliver “brought up the current climate around sexual harassment in show business” about 20 minutes into the 45-minute Q&A, and began asking for comments from the panelists. When Oliver asked Hoffman if his “one statement” on Hunter’s allegations felt like “enough,” the actor said, “First of all, it didn’t happen, the way she reported,” adding that the incident “didn’t reflect who he is as a person.”
And here’s where Oliver really went in. Reports Deadline:
“It’s that part of the response to this stuff that pisses me off,” Oliver said. “It is reflective of who you were. You’ve given no evidence to show that it didn’t happen. There was a period of time when you were creeping around women. It feels like a cop-out to say, ‘Well, this isn’t me.’ Do you understand how that feels like a dismissal?”‘
Hoffman shot back, “You weren’t there.” Oliver responded, “I’m glad,” drawing gasps from the well-heeled audience, many of whom had paid hefty ticket prices.
By the end of the tense debate, Oliver said, “I can’t leave certain things unaddressed. That leads to me at home later tonight hating myself, asking, ‘Why the fuck didn’t I say something? No one stands up to powerful men.’”
To this, Hoffman turned to Wag the Dog director Barry Levinson and dismissively asked, “Am I the powerful man?”
And that’s not even half of it. Head over to Deadline to read a recap of the rest of the Q&A, because it only gets worse…for Hoffman and the nervous Upper East Siders, that is.
[Deadline]
Bryan Singer’s offices were shut down, but it’s not what you think. His company Bad Hat Harry is reportedly “vacating its offices on the lot of Twentieth Century Fox,” but only because a three-year deal he had with Fox that technically ended in October was only extended because of his Freddie Mercury biopic. The one he was just canned from. In short: no Bohemian Rhapsody, no office.
Nothing to see here, folks!!! (Until, of course, there is.)
[THR]
I just remembered the part in that transcript when Hoffman asks, “Am I the powerful man?” God, will someone punch me in the face?
Meanwhile, here are Beyonce and Jay-Z, gleefully rejecting the art of subtlety.
- “While the two actors did not arrive together, it is rare for them to be at the same event, at the same time, as they continue to keep fans guessing about their relationship status.” NO ONE IS GUESSING ANYMORE. [People]
- Tom Hanks and Rita Wilson double dated with Bryan Cranston and Robin Dearden. [Just Jared]
- Headlines like this mean Vanderpump Rules must be back. [People]
- Video from Randy Travis’s 2012 arrest has been released, and it is unpleasant. [TMZ]