Meryl Streep Says Dustin Hoffman ‘Overstepped’ On The Set Of ‘Kramer Vs Kramer’

Meryl Streep is breaking her silence and taking a swipe at embattled actor Dustin Hoffman, criticizing his behavior on the set of her first major film, Kramer vs. Kramer. Streep explains that after having additional experiences in the entertainment industry she realized that Dustin Hoffman “overstepped” more than once while they were filming Kramer vs. Kramer. Streep recalls one scene where Dustin Hoffman, in character, hit her much harder than he had to.

It’s Not Just Meryl Streep Who Is Accusing Dustin Hoffman

Comments from Meryl Streep about Dustin Hoffman and his behavior on the set of Kramer vs Kramer are the least of his problems, as he’s accused of sexual assault and sexual harassment of women throughout his career, including allegations that he exposed himself to a teenage friend of his daughter.

Melissa Kester said she was working on the Dustin Hoffman-Warren Beatty movie Ishtar doing sound when she was sexually assaulted by Dustin Hoffman. Kester said she was ashamed and didn’t know that it was happening to others.

“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.”

"It was overstepping." Meryl Streep is slamming Dustin Hoffman for slapping her on the set of ‘Kramer Vs. Kramer’: https://t.co/UpnFLsxNb6 pic.twitter.com/xfjxfzcdo2

— Decider (@decider) January 3, 2018

Meryl Streep Says Hoffman Crossed A Line Slapping Her Hard On Set

While the story that Meryl Streep has to tell about her experience with Dustin Hoffman on Kramer vs. Kramer is not as explicit as the stories that the younger women have to tell, it is important because of the reputation of Meryl Streep, according to the Hollywood Reporter.

Meryl Streep explains that while she understood that Dustin Hoffman had to slap her in a scene shot on the first day on the set of Kramer vs. Kramer, he hit her much harder than he had to. Streep also said that he threw a glass of wine at the wall, which was not in the script.

“This was my first movie, and it was my first take in my first movie, and he just slapped me. And you see it in the movie.”

Meryl Streep explains that with years in the industry, she can say that Hoffman crossed a line. Streep also added that with the current climate where men are being called out for bad behavior in Hollywood, things are changing.

“It was overstepping. But I think those things are being corrected in this moment. And they’re not politically corrected; they’re fixed. They will be fixed, because people won’t accept it anymore. So that’s a good thing.”

Meryl Streep breaks her silence on the sexual misconduct claims against her former costar. https://t.co/BAb1CKvBhT

— POPSUGAR (@POPSUGAR) January 3, 2018

Streep Says That Dustin Hoffman Made A Terrible First Impression

But while getting slapped hard by Dustin Hoffman on the set of your first movie must have been hard for Meryl Streep, she also said that the first time she met Hoffman, he groped her breast, according to Slate. Streep said that her impression of Dustin Hoffman from their first meeting was that he was disgusting, according to an interview from 1979 when Streep made Kramer vs. Kramer with Dustin Hoffman.

“He came up to me and said, ‘I’m Dustin—burp—Hoffman,’ and he put his hand on my breast. What an obnoxious pig, I thought.”

In a comment in November from a Streep rep, Meryl Streep stated that later Dustin Hoffman apologized for groping her breast.

“There was an offense and it is something for which Dustin apologized. And Meryl accepted that.”

A similar story with told by Katherine Ross about Dustin Hoffman in the set of the movie The Graduate. Ross says that Dustin Hoffman pinched her rear end on the first day during her screen test.

In “Shag, Marry, Kill,” Meryl Streep Said She Would Kill Dustin Hoffman

When Meryl Streep was a guest of Andy Cohen’s on Watch What Happens Live, she was asked to play “Shag, Marry, Kill” with her former leading men, Streep didn’t hesitate to “kill” Dustin Hoffman.