John Oliver Regrets Confronting Dustin Hoffman

John Oliver, host of Last Week Tonight with John Oliver, says he regrets confronting Dustin Hoffman at a recent panel discussion. Oliver challenged Hoffman over allegations of sexual harassment, and Hoffman reacted irritably. Oliver says he regrets the incident because it was not "productive," largely because Hoffman avoided taking responsibility for the alleged incidents.

Via Variety.

John Oliver stopped by “The Russell Howard Hour” to discuss his recent tense exchange with Dustin Hoffman over sexual harassment allegations waged against the actor.

“It felt unavoidable and that we had to have a discussion about it,” Oliver said Friday on the British comedy news show. “It wasn’t ideal that it became such a big story because then it became about my questions rather than his answers. The questions weren’t particularly remarkable, but his answers were kind of not great.”

Oliver said he hoped their conversation would have been more constructive. “I tried and failed,” he said, adding, “The whole thing just made me feel sad.”

Earlier in December, Oliver hosted a Tribeca Film Institute panel for the 20th anniversary of “Wag the Dog,” which stars Hoffman. During the chat, Oliver brought up the recent sexual harassment allegations against the actor and said he felt Hoffman’s partial apologies had been insufficient.

“It’s shocking to me you don’t see me more clearly, that you go by a couple of things you read,” Hoffman replied during the panel.

The two continued to have a heated exchange for several minutes, with Hoffman denying he knew one of the women who had accused him and attacking Oliver for asking about the accusations.

Get the rest of the story at Variety.

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