Dustin Hoffman Supported #MeToo But Was Shocked by Misconduct Allegations Against Him

“When a reckoning started making its way around the internet and tearing through Hollywood, I thought it was a very good thing,” Hoffman wrote. “I knew by then that plenty of women had put up with way too much for way too long in my industry. Not for a second did I worry that anything negative would be said about me, because the idea of taking something from someone sexually that they didn’t want to give … it’s just not something I’ve ever done. Or been tempted to do.”

Hoffman was accused by eight women of sexual misconduct, including indecent exposure, lewd comments, and forced oral sex.

“I was sort of bewildered by how to defend myself … or if I should even try,” Hoffman continued. “I didn’t want to be fighting against something that I thought was important. I didn’t want to be on the wrong side of my own values. The only problem was that things were being said about me that just weren’t true. I’m sure it’s true that in my life, especially forty years ago, I made some women uncomfortable. … But ‘uncomfortable’ is a subjective emotional state. What is crass and offensive to one person, another individual might find hilarious.”

At the time of the allegations, Hoffman public said that he felt “terrible that anything I might have done could have put her in an uncomfortable situation,” adding that it is not reflective of his character.

Hoffman said in his memoir that the allegations forced him to reflect upon anytime he may have made a woman feel uncomfortable.

“If I were a woman, would bawdy jokes between takes seem threatening instead of fun to me? Would I have a totally different sense of humor? This is something I’ve thought about a lot,” Hoffman wrote. “And honestly? My guess is probably not. I’ve spent my life analyzing character, human behavior and I don’t think women are inherently any more wholesome than men are.”