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Second actress steps forward to accuse Dustin Hoffman

ASSOCIATED PRESS

A second actress has come forward to accuse Dustin Hoffman of allegations of sexual harassment. Kathryn Rossetter, who co-starred with Hoffman in “Death of a Salesman” on Broadway, says the Oscar-winner would grope her nightly, demand foot rubs and once pulled her slip over her head to expose her breasts in front of the crew.

NEW YORK >> A second actress has come forward to accuse Dustin Hoffman of allegations of sexual harassment, calling the Oscar-winner’s conduct “a horrific, demoralizing and abusive experience.”

Kathryn Rossetter, who co-starred with Hoffman in “Death of a Salesman” on Broadway in 1984, said the Oscar-winner would grope her nightly, demand foot rubs and once pulled her slip over her head to expose her breasts in front of the backstage crew. She said she cried nightly.

Rossetter told her account in The Hollywood Reporter on Friday, a month after actress Anna Graham Hunter alleged Hoffman groped her and made inappropriate comments when she was a 17-year-old intern on the set of the 1985 TV movie “Death of a Salesman,” in which Rossetter reprised her stage role. Rossetter filmed her part in three days and said she had no knowledge of how Hoffman treated anyone on the set.

Hoffman’s representatives did not immediately respond to a request for comment. But Hoffman has previously denied abusing Hunter, saying her allegations were “not reflective of who I am.”

Rossetter, who went on to have roles in “Speed 2: Cruise Control” and “Law & Order: Special Victims Unit,” wrote that Hoffman “left dirty fingerprints on my soul.”

Hunter’s allegations against the actor recently prompted comedian and “Last Week Tonight” host John Oliver to publicly question Hoffman during an anniversary screening of his film “Wag the Dog.” During a panel discussion, Oliver said Hoffman’s reply that harassment was not reflective of who he is was a “cop-out,” adding: “It is reflective of who you were.”

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