Selma Blair feels "totally free" since coming forward to share her own experience with sexual harassment.
The 45-year-old actress previously accused director James Toback 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 now admits she feels "so much better" now that the story is out in the open.
She said: "I am so hopeful. I felt so much better, I am totally free of that experience and so my experience is irrelevant now because I am free of it."
The ‘Cruel Intentions’ star then praised the other "powerful women" who have since shared their own experiences with sexual misconduct, and said she hoped the conversation would spark "change".
Speaking during an appearance on ‘Late Night with Seth Meyers’, Selma added: "People listened and 396 other women from the same man came out, we commiserated and let go. We’re watching these powerful women and men really bring this movement to something that I hope comes to a place of forgiveness and change. I’m all for forgiveness and change, writing our wrongs and empowerment. I love it."
Previously, Selma admitted she was left fearing for her life for many years as she "genuinely thought" Toback would kill her.
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 Selma 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."
Selma Blair feels ‘free’ after speaking about sexual harassment
