Famous actor and director Dustin Hoffman apparently found himself in a tight spot during a 20th-anniversary panel for 1997 black comedy Wag the Dog, when host John Oliver started questioning him about sexual harassment claims that were brought up against Hoffman earlier this year.
Oliver, however, was apparently dissatisfied with this response.
"It is reflective of who you were. If you’ve given no evidence to show it didn’t [happen], there was a period of time for a while when you were a creeper around women. It feels like a cop-out to say ‘well this isn’t me.’ Do you understand how that feels like a dismissal?" the host said, according to Washington Post.
Oliver’s statements apparently resonated with the Twitter audience as a number of people vocally approved of his actions.
John Oliver giving a dressing down to Dustin Hoffman about GROPING while watching WAG THE DOG!! 😂😂😂#2HollywoodGropers
— Rocky (@Rocko2379) 5 декабря 2017 г.
The John Oliver-Dustin Hoffman interaction is illuminating. 1. Abusers can’t fathom they actually did wrong. 2. Challenging powerful men is so rare this 5 minute back-and-forth goes viral.
— Patrick Seick (@Seick_Truth) 5 декабря 2017 г.
Leave it to a comedian to expose the tragic farce of it all.
So, Dustin Hoffman in "Midnight Cowboy" brilliant, "Kramer vs Kramer" brilliant, Dustin Hoffman with John Oliver? An Ignorant predator. Brilliant. #MeToo
— BritScot (@funydiva) 5 декабря 2017 г.
Good on John Oliver, I don't even look at this as a moment where we confronted Hoffman, this was a moment where someone chose to openly have a discussion about someone who should be questioned. Too often we let these people off the hook too quickly (Bryan Singer, Mel Gibson, etc)
— Victor Santiago (@CircleMan628) 5 декабря 2017 г.
Others took a dim view of Oliver’s questioning, arguing that he overstepped his bounds as panel host.
I would rather be raped by Hoffman than listen to John Oliver for 1 second.
— Joe (@joemate91) 5 декабря 2017 г.
John Oliver went into event with the sole goal of embarrassing Hoffman. It was an elephant in the room for Oliver who wasn’t asked to be the hero for women. He should keep his schtick to his late show. As a moderator of this panel — out of line.
— Lisa (@YoungStreete) 5 декабря 2017 г.
Earlier this year writer Anna Graham Hunter claimed that she was subjected to groping and verbal harassment by Hoffman when she was working as an intern on the TV movie Death of a Salesman in 1985.
Later in November TV producer Wendy Riss Gatsiounis also accused Hoffman of sexual harassment which allegedly took place in 1991.
