Dustin Hoffman's 'Death of a Salesman' Director Defends Actor From Sexual Harassment Allegation

In a guest column published Wednesday by The Hollywood Reporter, Anna Graham Hunter claimed Hoffman was openly flirtatious and would often talk about sex with her on the set of the 1985 TV movie. She said he would grab her butt, and one time when she went to his dressing room to take his breakfast order, he told her he'd "have a hard-boiled egg ... and a soft-boiled clitoris."

But Schlondorff insisted that Hoffman is just "a kidder" and that Hunter mischaracterized his behavior, saying that "calling Dustin Hoffman a predator is simply going too far."

"Standard Monday morning question was indeed, 'Did you have good sex over the weekend?'" Schlondorff said Friday in a statement. "A joke, a running gag, everybody laughed at."

In her column, Hunter claimed that Hoffman asked her to give him a foot massage on her first day on set. She said she often saw other female crew members giving him foot rubs.

"Everybody gave him a foot massage now and then, on the set, amidst the chaos, nothing ambiguous about it," Schlondorff said, adding that Hoffman was "16 hours standing on the set ... so he was tired."

Regarding the alleged groping, Schlondorff said, "Slapping her butt on the way to the car, with driver, stage manager and PAs around, may have happened, but again in a funny way, nothing lecherous about it. He was a clown ... He was teasing the young, nervous interns, mostly to make them feel included on the set, treating them as equals to all the senior technicians."

The director remembered working with Hunter and said "she had a self-assured playful way herself."

"In her innermost she must know that this teasing was not to put her down, but to make her relax with all these celebrities around," he said.

"If he knew that she would be upset when he was teasing her, he wouldn't have done it. Not the sensitive man he was, and still is."

Hoffaman responded to the allegations in a statement released Wednesday: "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."

Below is Schlondorff's full statement:

I welcome the #metoo campaign and do not want to sound dismissive of what I consider a serious cause. However one should not smear, tar and feather indistinctively every male around. Calling Dustin Hoffman a predator is simply going too far. I hope this fades away.

It's plain silly. Just watch Christian Blackwood's wonderful documentary PRIVATE CONVERSATIONS on the making of DOAS to check what a kidder Dustin was on the set, at all time, with everybody. Standard Monday morning question was indeed. "Did you have good sex over the weekend?" A joke, a running gag, everybody laughed at.

Foot massage? Yes indeed, he was 16 hours standing on the set (as me he never sat down), so he was tired and besides there is a line in the play about it: "These arch supports are killing me." Dustin Hoffman, ever method acting, made it his own. Everybody gave him a foot massage now and then, on the set, amidst the chaos, nothing ambiguous about it.

As to the joke who was going to get Warren Beatty, only a teenager in her unlimited fantasy could take it seriously. Slapping her butt on the way to the car, with driver, stage manager and PAs around, may have happened, but again in a funny way, nothing lecherous about it. He was a clown, it was part of the way we portrayed Willy Loman as well — but he never played the power play. He was teasing the young, nervous interns, mostly to make them feel included on the set, treating them as equals to all the senior technicians. She may have got it wrong, confiding it to her diary then, but as a grown-up 30 years later she should know that his was no "sexual harassment," and not call him a "predator."

In her innermost she must know that this teasing was not to put her down, but to make her relax with all these celebrities around. She had a self-assured playful way herself. If he knew that she would be upset when he was teasing her, he wouldn't have done it. Not the sensitive man he was, and still is. I wish Arthur Miller was around, he would find the right words, but then he might get accused of sexually molesting Marilyn Monroe.