‘Guardians’ Director James Gunn Warned Women About James Toback: “I Couldn’t Stop Him”
Guardians of the Galaxy director James Gunn says he’s been warning people about James Toback for more than 20 years. “I couldn’t stop him,” Gunn writes, “but I could warn people about him.”
In a lengthy, blunt Facebook post today – tweeted by Gunn with the message “Why I’ve despised James Toback for over 20 years” – the Guardians writer/director says that when he lived in New York City during the 1990s, he personally met 15 women claiming to have been “accosted” by Toback. (Read Gunn’s post below).
“It’s important to say, I don’t have any firsthand information about any of this,” Gunn writes. “But the stories are so eerily similar, and I’ve heard them again and again from some of the people I trust most in the world, I know the chances of them being untrue… well, it would just be impossible.”
Earlier today, the LA Times published an article in which 38 women claim to have been sexually harassed by the Two Girls and a Guy director. Toback denied the allegations to the Times but has not spoken publicly since the story broke.
The Times article has prompted strong condemnation in Hollywood, but none yet with quite the detail or sting of Gunn’s account.
“When I lived in New York, in the ‘nineties, this dude was EVERYWHERE,” Gunn begins. ‘I have personally met at least FIFTEEN WOMEN, probably more, who say that he’s accosted them in NYC. He essentially goes up to women and says, ‘Hey, I’m James Toback, and I’m a famous director, and I feel like there’s a connection between us.’ Then he shows them some article on himself or some other artifact to prove he is who he is, and tries to get them to go somewhere else with him.
“He has done this to three girls I’ve dated, two of my very best friends, and a family member… twice. Yes, he came up to her twice with the same stupid line, not realizing she was the same person. This is in addition to many other women I’ve talked to at parties or dinners about their interactions with Toback.”
Gunn, who says he distinguishes Toback’s behavior from typical Hollywood “douchebaggery,” offers an explanation to why he’s speaking out now, saying that for 20 years he “did what I could do in my impotent state” by warning people.
“So I did what I could do in my impotent state – for over twenty years now, I’ve been bringing up James Toback every chance I could in groups of people. I couldn’t stop him, but I could warn people about him.”
After posting the Facebook message, Gunn responded to some commenters, including one who assumed Hollywood was full “disgusting perverts.”
“It really is not all of Hollywood,” Gunn responded. “There are a lot of good people here. You just have to seek them out and surround yourself with them early on. I’ve been very fortunate to have done that.”
As for whether he knows of other harassers, Gunn wrote, “Yes, a couple I know of. I bring them up all the time too. But I don’t have anywhere near as much info on them as I’ve had on Toback, so I can’t put the stuff up here on FB (someone just reminded me I posted about Toback years ago, when I was a bit less suable than I am now). But run into me any time anywhere and I will tell you.”
Here is Gunn’s entire Facebook post:
When I lived in New York, in the ‘nineties, this dude was EVERYWHERE. I have personally met at least FIFTEEN WOMEN, probably more, who say that he’s accosted them in NYC. He essentially goes up to women and says, “Hey, I’m James Toback, and I’m a famous director, and I feel like there’s a connection between us.” Then he shows them some article on himself or some other artifact to prove he is who he is, and tries to get them to go somewhere else with him.
He has done this to three girls I’ve dated, two of my very best friends, and a family member… twice. Yes, he came up to her twice with the same stupid line, not realizing she was the same person. This is in addition to many other women I’ve talked to at parties or dinners about their interactions with Toback.
AND THAT’S JUST PEOPLE I KNOW. It’s not even mentioning the many other accounts going all the way back to an article that came out in SPY magazine in 1989 detailing this behavior, and I’m not including all the people I’ve talked to online who’ve had experiences. I mean, statistically, it would seem his numbers would have to be at least in the thousands.
Most of these women were in their early twenties. Most of them refused to go any further with him, but a few went to dinner, or to some sort of casting situation, or to someplace private.
And, honestly, if the stories were just about some crazed sex addict who approaches thousands of women on the street trying to get laid, I wouldn’t be posting this now. I don’t want to be attacking every Hollywood douchebag who hits on countless women. That type of behavior isn’t cool, but I think it’s important to separate douchebaggery from any kind of sexual coercion. But the women I talked to who DID go someplace private with Toback, told stories that were worse than the women only accosted on the street.
It’s important to say, I don’t have any firsthand information about any of this. But the stories are so eerily similar, and I’ve heard them again and again from some of the people I trust most in the world, I know the chances of them being untrue… well, it would just be impossible. I knew it was their choice whether or not they wanted to come forward publicly, but I let them know I would have their backs if they did.
So I did what I could do in my impotent state – for over twenty years now, I’ve been bringing up James Toback every chance I could in groups of people. I couldn’t stop him, but I could warn people about him.
Recently, I thought the guy had disappeared into obscurity and old age, but then I saw an article in the Huffington Post about him, entitled, “James Toback Gets Us, He Truly Gets Us.” I almost vomited. Did the person who wrote the article even do a basic Google search on Toback? It seemed like he was more current than I had thought, with a movie at the Venice Film Festival starring Sienna Miller. I had hoped his exploits had become well known enough that producers wouldn’t finance his films and actors wouldn’t work with him.
So since then I’ve been hoping the Weinstein/O’Reilly stuff would bring this vampire into the light (him and a couple others, frankly). So I was happy today to wake up to this story in the LA Times.
I told the women who would come forward I had their back. This is me doing my best to fulfill that promise.
Love to you all.
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