Selma Blair ”genuinely thought” director James Toback would kill her.
The ‘Cruel Intentions’ star has previously accused the filmmaker of sexual harassment and claimed he threatened to harm her if she ever told anyone about the incident in 1999 – in which he allegedly propositioned her for sex and when she refused, blocked the door of the room and forced her to watch as he masturbated against her leg – and she has admitted she lived in fear of him for many years.
Speaking to TIME magazine for their Person of the Year feature on ‘The Silence Breakers’, she said: ”He said if I ever wronged him, he would have me kidnapped, have my eyes gouged out with a BIC pen and throw me into the Hudson River.
”I had heard from others that he was slandering me, saying these sexual things about me, and it just made me even more afraid of him. I genuinely thought for almost 20 years, ‘He’s going to kill me.’ ”
Toback has denied the allegations against him from several women, and the 45-year-old actress previously admitted she decided to speak out about her own alleged encounter because of the ”rage” his statement made her feel.
She said: ”When he called these women liars, and said he didn’t recall meeting them and that the behaviour alleged could not be attributed to him, I just felt rage and an obligation to speak publicly now.”
She detailed how she had visited the 73-year-old filmmaker for a meeting about his film ‘Harvard Man’ and against her ”better judgement” agreed to his request she went into his hotel room.
She claimed he asked her to take her clothes off and perform a monologue, then when she refused to have sex with him, he insisted she let him masturbate in front of her.
She added: ”He walked me back to the bed. He sat me down. He got on his knees. And he continued to press so hard against my leg.
”He was greasy and I had to look into those big brown eyes. I tried to look away, but he would hold my face. So I was forced to look into his eyes.
”And I felt disgust and shame, and like nobody would ever think of me as being clean again after being this close to the devil. His energy was so sinister.”
