Thursday, April 10, 2025 - A New York jury has awarded $1.68 billion in damages to 40 women who accused film director James Toback of s3xual assault, coercion, false imprisonment, and psychological abuse over a period spanning more than three decades.
The landmark verdict, one of the largest in New York’s legal
history and since the rise of the #MeToo movement, includes $280 million in
compensatory damages and $1.4 billion in punitive damages.
The civil lawsuit, filed in December 2022, alleged that
Toback lured women into private meetings under the pretense of auditions or
professional opportunities, which then turned into instances of s3xual
misconduct. The accusations mirror earlier claims brought against Toback in
2017, when more than 30 women came forward with allegations of s3xual
harassment, likening his pattern of behaviour to that of disgraced producer
Harvey Weinstein.
Toback, 80, did not attend the trial and represented himself
briefly before withdrawing from the proceedings. After failing to appear in
court as ordered, a judge issued a default judgment against him in January. The
trial that followed, focused solely on damages, concluded this week with the
jury’s sweeping decision.
Attorney Brad Beckworth, representing the plaintiffs,
described the verdict as both justice for the women and a warning to powerful
individuals who abuse their influence. “This verdict is about taking power back
from the abusers and returning it to those he tried to control and silence,”
Beckworth said, adding that the case covered incidents between 1979 and 2014.
The allegations detail a pattern of Toback approaching
women—often on the streets of New York—with promises of film roles. Instead,
the encounters allegedly escalated to non-consensual s3xual activity,
manipulation, and intimidation. The lawsuit was made possible by New York’s
Adult Survivors Act, which temporarily lifted the statute of limitations for
civil claims involving s3xual abuse.
Among Toback’s more well-known accusers are actresses
Julianne Moore, Natalie Morales, and Ellen Pompeo. One of the plaintiffs, Mary
Monahan, described the verdict as long-awaited validation. “For decades, I
carried this trauma in silence, and today, a jury believed me. Believed us.
That changes everything,” she said in a statement. “This verdict is more than a
number—it’s a declaration. We are not disposable.”
Despite previously denying all allegations, Toback has not
publicly commented on the jury’s decision. In court documents, he maintained
that any contact with the women was consensual and argued that the law
extending the statute of limitations violated his constitutional rights.
Toback, best known for co-writing the Oscar-nominated
film Bugsy (1991), has faced repeated scrutiny over similar
allegations throughout his decades-long Hollywood career. Prosecutors in Los
Angeles declined to bring charges against him in 2018 due to expired statutes
of limitation. The civil judgment in New York now stands as the most
significant legal consequence the director has faced to date.
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