Seven of the women who accused Dustin Hoffman of past sexual misconduct have penned a letter thanking John Oliver for pressing him on those accusations earlier this month. Anna Graham Hunter—who wrote a Hollywood Reporter guest column recounting her inappropriate encounters with Hoffman during the filming of 1985's Death of a Salesman—posted the letter on her Twitter account.
“We want to thank you for confronting Dustin Hoffman," the letter reads. "While the questions you asked may not have led to the constructive conversation you hoped for, the fact that you asked them at all is what matters most."
Thank you @iamjohnoliver for confronting Dustin Hoffman. While the questions you asked may not have led to the constructive conversation you hoped for, the fact that you asked them at all is what matters most. @nykass @corithyme @MelissaKester + 3 others pic.twitter.com/WeenZP5jck
Oliver confronted Hoffman on the sexual misconduct allegations during a panel that took place at Wag the Dog's 20th anniversary screening earlier this month. In the ensuing argument, which can be viewed here, Oliver calling out Hoffman's initial apology to the incident for being something that, "really pisses [him] off." (Hoffman had issued an apology saying, "I am sorry. It is not reflective of who I am.")
"If you've given no evidence to show it didn't [happen] then there was a period of time for a while when you were a creeper around women," Oliver said in the discussion. "It feels like a cop-out to say 'it wasn't me.' Do you understand how that feels like a dismissal?"
On Tuesday, Oliver finally opened up about the confrontation in an interview on Sky One's Russell Howard Hour stating that the he felt he "tried and failed" to get proper responses from Hoffman on the allegations. "The questions weren’t particularly remarkable, but his answers were … not great. That was the point of it. But it didn't really go anywhere constructive, so the whole thing just made me feel sad."
