NBC News sat down with three of the now six women who have come forward to accuse Dustin Hoffman of sexual misconduct or assault. Cori Thomas was just 16 years old at the time of her run-in with the actor in 1980, a friend of one of his daughters. The three spent a day in New York City together, which Thomas called one of the greatest days of her life, until she found herself alone with Hoffman while waiting for her parents. At that point, Hoffman came out of the bathroom wearing only a towel, which he proceeded to drop on the floor.
“I just froze, I’d never seen a man naked in my life at this point,” Thomas said. “I was kind of an awkward young girl, I’d never kissed anyone.”
Anna Hunter also recalled her ordeal with Hoffman as a 17-year-old intern on the set of the 1985 TV film Death of a Salesman, and her reaction to the particularly vulgar breakfast order that she previously detailed to The Hollywood Reporter. “And he just stared at me and everyone burst out laughing, and I backed out … went to the bathroom and cried,” she recounted, her voice breaking up.
Finally, actress Kathryn Rossetter spoke about her experience working with Hoffman on the stage production of Death of a Salesman. Rossetter came forward earlier this month to accuse Hoffman of repeatedly groping her and sexually assaulting her backstage during the production.
“People go, how was it to work with Dustin. And I tell the half truth, which is, as an actor working with him, I owe him everything,” she explained, getting emotional. “I learned so much. And then I would stop. There would always be a knot in my stomach about what the real truth was, which is he was abusive and he was a bully.”
Rossetter was also able to offer an explanation, of sorts, as to why Hoffman is the way he is and separating the humanity from the work. “That might be part of his tragedy,” she said. “He brings so much humanity to his work, and he hasn’t gotten it quite completely in his life.”