When Cori Thomas was 16, and in high school with Dustin Hoffman’s daughter Karina, she says that Hoffman exposed himself to her at a hotel, intentionally dropping his towel on the floor. Now, in addition to Thomas, two other women are claiming that Dustin Hoffman, now 80, sexually assaulted them. All three women tell detailed stories of their encounters with Hoffman, but Dustin Hoffman’s lawyer, Mark A. Neubauer of Carlton Fields Jorden Burt, is calling all of the claims “defamatory falsehoods.”
According to Page Six , Melissa Kester says that just after she graduated from college, she got a job doing audio for the movie Ishtar , where she says Dustin Hoffman sexually assaulted her . Kester said it was in the recording booth where she and Hoffman were joking around, and suddenly he violated her just below the level where the sound engineers could see what was going on.
“And as he’s [Hoffman] doing that, he literally just stuck his fingers down my pants. He put his fingers inside me. And the thing I feel most bad about is I didn’t know what to do. I just stood there. I just froze in the situation like ‘Oh my god, what is happening?’ It’s shocking when that happens to you.”
Kester Says Dustin Hoffman Called Her Repeatedly After The Assault
Kester says that Hoffman laughed at her shock, and she ran into the bathroom and cried, feeling as if she had been raped. She said she told a friend at the time that Hoffman had groped her, but what made it worse was that Hoffman called her repeatedly after the attack.
Dustin Hoffman allegedly exposed himself to a minor, assaulted 2 women https://t.co/3HrDfU0dob pic.twitter.com/UI9TxWXgO8
— HuffPost (@HuffPost) December 15, 2017
Thomas Considers Herself Lucky That Dustin Hoffman Didn’t Assault Her
Cori Thomas says that she was a classmate of Karina Hoffman , Dustin Hoffman’s daughter, at the United Nations International School back in 1980 when she got to spend the day with the Hoffmans in Manhattan, walking around and going to what then seemed like a fancy dinner, says the Boston Herald . She says she remembers having veal piccata for the first time.
She explains that Dustin Hoffman had just split with his first wife, so he was in town shopping for an apartment, but staying at a hotel. Thomas said she had had a wonderful day, and then they returned to Hoffman’s hotel to wait for her parents to pick her up.
“This was at first one of the greatest days of my life. One of my idols was spending time with me and talking with me respectfully.”
Thomas explains that Dustin Hoffman sent Karina home to her mother’s house because it was a school night, and she waited for her parents in Hoffman’s suite.
“He came out of the bathroom with a towel at first wrapped around him, which he dropped. He was standing there naked. I think I almost collapsed, actually. It was the first time I had ever seen a naked man. I was mortified. I didn’t know what to do. And he milked it. He milked the fact that he was naked. He stood there. He took his time.”
Thomas explains that she was embarrassed, and so Dustin Hoffman put on a robe, sat on the bed, and asked Thomas to massage his feet. She explains she didn’t know what to do, so she rubbed his feet.
“He kept telling me, ‘I’m naked. Do you want to see?’”
Thomas explains that she perceives that she was saved from being molested by Hoffman because her mother called, saying that she was waiting downstairs. She says that she did not tell her mother what Dustin Hoffman had done, and never told Karina Hoffman.
Three women detail sexual misconduct allegations against Dustin Hoffman: “I just stood there. I just froze in the situation like ‘Oh my god, what is happening?’ It’s shocking when that happens to you” https://t.co/9knot2oqtq pic.twitter.com/1rSW07l31b
— Variety (@Variety) December 15, 2017
Dustin Hoffman Apologizes
Ana Graham Hunter, a writer, met Dustin Hoffman in 1985 when she was 17 and was working as an intern on the television adaptation of Death of A Salesman , says the Hollywood Reporter . Hunter described obscene comments, gropes, and demands for foot rubs on set that made her increasingly uncomfortable.
Dustin Hoffman responded to Hunter’s claims that he had made her uncomfortable with a brief statement.
“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.”
Now that five other women have come forward to accuse Dustin Hoffman, he is no longer speaking out on the subject and has hired a law firm to speak on his behalf.