In October of last year, the #MeToo movement caught up with director James Toback (Black & White, Tyson) after Glenn Whip’s Los Angeles Times piece shed light on the filmmaker's alleged history with sexual misconduct, harassment, and assault. A mere week later, the initial number of 38 women accusing Toback had ballooned to an utterly stunning 300-plus. According to TMZ, however, all five cases involving allegations of sexual misconduct against the director were rejected by the L.A. County District Attorney.
While we must proceed with accusations like these with facts, evidence, and trust in the flawed legal process to hold wrongdoers accountable, the sheer numbers involved here make it pretty difficult to consider these rejections as fair. According to TMZ, the District Attorney’s dismissals of cases submitted by law enforcement were based on the fact that most incidents had passed the statute of limitations.
This reportedly leaves only one remaining case that could come back to bite the director, in which a woman claimed Toback rubbed his crotch on her leg until he climaxed. According to the District Attorney, however, the woman hasn’t been cooperating. Should she change her mind, though, this case could be reopened.
Many of Toback’s accusers reportedly claimed the director promised them roles in his movies to convince them to please him sexually. This classic casting couch behavior, however, often veered into straight-up psychopathy, like threatening Selma Blair’s life should she tell anyone of her 1999 encounter with him and that he’d gouge her eyes out with a pen if she did. Over the years, Toback would allegedly take women to hotel rooms, to his movie trailer, or more public places to harass them. As there’s still one potential case looming over the director’s head, this isn’t over yet—and we’ll be sure to keep our eyes open on any possible developments.
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