Last Week Tonight host John Oliver recently took advantage of an opportunity to grill iconic actor Dustin Hoffman over sexual harassment allegations against him that recently surfaced.
The two men were attending a Q&A discussion panel at an event celebrating the 20th anniversary of Hoffman’s film Wag the Dog and, according to PEOPLE, Oliver turned to Hoffman and said, “This is something we’re going to have to talk about because… it’s hanging in the air.”
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“It’s hanging in the air? From a few things you’ve read you’ve made an incredible assumption about me,” Hoffman responded, sarcastically adding, “You’ve made the case better than anyone else can. I’m guilty.”
Oliver then quoted Hoffman’s apology, which was prompted when actress Anna Graham Hunter accused him of sexually harassing her on the set of 1985’s Death of a Salesman.
“I have the utmost respect for women and feel terrible that anything I might have done could have put her in an uncomfortable situation. I am sorry. It is not reflective of who I am,“ Hoffman’s statement read.
Oliver took issue with this apology and made his feelings known.
“It’s ‘not reflective of who I am’ — it’s that kind of response to this stuff that pisses me off,” Oliver said. “It is reflective of who you were. 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. It feels like a cop-out to say ‘it wasn’t me.’ Do you understand how that feels like a dismissal?”
According to reports, the back-and-forth between Oliver and Hoffman dominated the reminder of the panel discussion.
Before ending the panel Oliver addressed the other members and the audience saying, “I can’t leave certain things unaddressed. The easy way is not to bring anything up. Unfortunately that leaves me at home later at night hating myself. ‘Why the…didn’t I say something? No one stands up to powerful men.’ “
“Am I the powerful man?” Hoffman asked, before firing back, “You weren’t there.“ Oliver quipped, “I’m glad [I wasn’t].“
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