Baldwin distances himself from Toback, says had no knowledge

Actor Alec Baldwin, who worked with James Toback on two projects, said he was not aware of the director's alleged sexual misconduct.

The 59-year-old actor worked with Toback, 72, on two movies -- "Seduced and Abandoned", a HBO documentary exploring the film financing aspect of film production, and "The Private Life of a Modern Woman".

"In all the time I've known Jimmy (Toback), I never had one conversation about his sex life... In my time with Jimmy, it was absolutely, positively business," the actor told Los Angeles Times, which first broke the story about Toback.

"I don't know that Jimmy has done anything criminal. It sounds like many people are saying he has. That he has assaulted them. If that's true, that's news to me," he added.
 

The actor admitted that he was aware that Toback used to "hit on a lot of women".

"He had an appetite for going up to women and saying salacious and provocative things to them and introducing himself with his credentials and so forth and laying that on people to seduce them.

"I never knew any details of what he did that was assault in nature or rape in nature or criminally actionable. Never, never, never," Baldwin said.

The actor, who impersonates US President Donald Trump on 'Saturday Night Live', said Trump should also be held accountable for his alleged sexual misconduct.

Baldwin said there was a "veneer of complexity" to the entire sexual harassment scandal that has rocked Hollywood after allegations against powerful movie producer Harvey Weinstein became public.

"There is some veneer to it of complexity because they can't get the guy they really want to get. (Donald) Trump is a sexual predator.

"On the record, there's all kinds of evidence that Trump has behaved this way, and he's the president of the United States and that being just one of the things that is horrifying people about Trump, his opinions, his behaviour, his methodology and there's nothing you can do about that. You cannot touch him," Baldwin said.

The Los Angeles Times had published a report on October 22, detailing accusations of sexual harassment against Toback, 72, by 38 women, going back to the '80s. More than 300 women have come forward with their claims against the director after that.