“I welcome the #me.too campaign and do not want to sound dismissive of what I consider a serious cause,” Volker Schlöndorff said in a statement.
Volker Schlöndorff, who directed Dustin Hoffman in the 1985 TV movie “Death of a Salesman,” is defending the actor against the accusation from a young female intern, who claims Hoffman sexually harassed her on the set.
“I welcome the #me.too campaign and do not want to sound dismissive of what I consider a serious cause,” Schlöndorff said in a statement.
“However one should not smear, tar and feather indistinctively [sic] every male around. Calling Dustin Hoffman a predator is simply going too far. I hope this fades away. It’s plain silly.”
The director said Hoffman was joking around with everyone on the set. “He was a clown, it was part of the way we portrayed Willy Loman as well — but he never played the power play.
“He was teasing the young, nervous interns, mostly to make them feel included on the set, treating them as equals to all the senior technicians.”
Schlöndorff concluded, “I wish Arthur Miller was around, he would find the right words, but then he might get accused of sexually molesting Marilyn Monroe.”
