A co-star of Hollywood actor Dustin Hoffman has accused him of a “horrific, demoralising and abusive experience” while on a 1984 Broadway production.
Kathryn Rossetter’s allegation comes a month after author Anna Graham Hunter accused Hoffman of sexual misconduct.
Hoffman has not commented on the latest claims in the Hollywood Reporter.
It said it had spoken to several people on the 1984 set who questioned Rossetter’s account and said they had not witnessed the conduct described.
The latest allegation is one of a string made against Hollywood stars and executives, sparked by initial allegations against producer Harvey Weinstein.
‘I went home and cried’
Rossetter’s account was carried in a guest column in the Hollywood Reporter on Friday, as Anna Graham Hunter’s allegations had been in an article on 1 November.
Rossetter said the alleged events had occurred on the 1984 Broadway production of Death Of A Salesman.
She said Hoffman would regularly grope her. The actor would grab her breast and then remove his hand just before a photograph was taken, she alleged.
On one night, she said, Hoffman exposed her body to the stage crew. “Suddenly he grabs the bottom of my slip and pulls it up over my head, exposing my breasts and body to the crew and covering my face,” she said.
Rossetter added: “Night after night I went home and cried. I withdrew and got depressed and did not have any good interpersonal relationships with the cast.”
She said: “I considered reporting him to Actors Equity. But I was cautioned by some respected theatre professionals that if I did, I would probably lose my job and, because he was such a powerful star, any hope of a career.”
The Reporter said Hoffman’s lawyers had put it in touch with others who had worked on the set, including Hoffman’s brother-in-law, Lee Gottsegen, and actors Anne McIntosh, Debra Mooney, Linda Hogan, Michael Quinlan and Andrew Bloch.
The paper said they had not witnessed the alleged misconduct and had questioned Rossetter’s account.
Production stage manager Tom Kelly said: “It just doesn’t ring true.”
Earlier in the week, TV host John Oliver confronted Dustin Hoffman, 80, in a tense public discussion about the allegations of sexual harassment made by Graham Hunter.
At a Q&A panel for the 20th anniversary of Hoffman’s film Wag The Dog, the actor defended himself, asking Oliver: “Do you believe this stuff that you’re reading?” and saying he still did not know who Graham Hunter was.
She worked as a 17-year-old intern on Hoffman’s 1985 TV movie version of Death Of A Salesman.
Hoffman had earlier put out a statement following Graham Hunter’s allegations, saying: “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.” BBC
