Survivors speak: $1.68 billion verdict against James to back marks defining #MeToo moment
Pranjal Chandra | Apr 10, 2025, 20:05 IST
( Image credit : AP )
In a landmark victory, a New York jury awarded $1.68 billion to 40 women who accused filmmaker James Toback of sexual abuse. The verdict, one of New York's largest, validates survivors who spoke out against Toback's decades-long predation. Filed under the Adult Survivors Act, the lawsuit bypassed expired statutes of limitations.
In a watershed moment for survivor justice and the continuing legacy of the #MeToo movement, a New York jury has awarded an unprecedented $1.68 billion to 40 women who accused filmmaker James Toback of decades-long sexual abuse and psychological coercion.
This staggering verdict one of the largest in New York’s history and the largest since #MeToo galvanized global consciousness in 2017 has been hailed as both validation and vindication for the women who stood up against a man once embedded in the fabric of Hollywood's elite.
For many of the survivors, the decision was about far more than financial compensation. “This verdict is more than a number it’s a declaration,” said Mary Monahan, one of the lead plaintiffs. “We are not disposable. We are not liars. We are not collateral damage in someone else’s power trip. The world knows now what we’ve always known: what he did was real.”
The lawsuit, filed in 2022 under New York’s Adult Survivors Act, came years after public allegations against Toback first surfaced. The 2022 law created a one-year window allowing adult survivors of sexual assault to bring civil claims regardless of when the alleged abuse occurred a crucial legal avenue for victims previously silenced by expired statutes of limitations.
According to court documents, Toback's pattern of predation stretched from 1979 to 2014. The filmmaker, best known for co-writing Bugsy (1991), allegedly lured young women with promises of Hollywood fame, only to trap them in situations of sexual violence, psychological manipulation, and intimidation.
Attorney Brad Beckworth of Nix Patterson LLP, representing the plaintiffs, stated that the verdict included $280 million in compensatory damages and a massive $1.4 billion in punitive damages a clear message meant to reverberate across industries and institutions.
“This verdict is about justice,” Beckworth said. “But more importantly, it’s about taking power back from the abusers — and their enablers and returning it to those he tried to control and silence.”
Toback, now 80, had repeatedly denied the allegations, claiming any interactions were consensual. In recent months, he had chosen to represent himself in court but failed to appear for proceedings. In January, the judge issued a default judgment against him, and the March trial proceeded solely to determine damages.
The verdict not only reopens long-closed wounds but reaffirms how far the conversation around sexual abuse and power has shifted in less than a decade. While prosecutors in Los Angeles previously declined to charge Toback due to the expiration of legal deadlines, civil courts now backed by legislative changes have become battlegrounds for truth and accountability.
Legal experts suggest the Toback ruling may signal a new era in civil justice, one where abusers can no longer hide behind institutional protections or legal technicalities. "When survivors are believed, and when society begins to correct decades of inaction, it’s a shift not just in law but in culture," said legal analyst Dana Hughes.
The women involved in the case, many of whom remained anonymous throughout the proceedings, expressed hope that this outcome would embolden others to speak out, even years later. “For decades, I carried this trauma in silence,” Monahan said. “And today, a jury believed me. Believed us. That changes everything.”
As Toback faces one of the most severe legal consequences for sexual abuse in the entertainment world, survivors, advocates, and allies are calling this moment not the end but a powerful step forward in the continuing reckoning against sexual violence and the misuse of power.
This staggering verdict one of the largest in New York’s history and the largest since #MeToo galvanized global consciousness in 2017 has been hailed as both validation and vindication for the women who stood up against a man once embedded in the fabric of Hollywood's elite.
For many of the survivors, the decision was about far more than financial compensation. “This verdict is more than a number it’s a declaration,” said Mary Monahan, one of the lead plaintiffs. “We are not disposable. We are not liars. We are not collateral damage in someone else’s power trip. The world knows now what we’ve always known: what he did was real.”
The lawsuit, filed in 2022 under New York’s Adult Survivors Act, came years after public allegations against Toback first surfaced. The 2022 law created a one-year window allowing adult survivors of sexual assault to bring civil claims regardless of when the alleged abuse occurred a crucial legal avenue for victims previously silenced by expired statutes of limitations.
According to court documents, Toback's pattern of predation stretched from 1979 to 2014. The filmmaker, best known for co-writing Bugsy (1991), allegedly lured young women with promises of Hollywood fame, only to trap them in situations of sexual violence, psychological manipulation, and intimidation.
Attorney Brad Beckworth of Nix Patterson LLP, representing the plaintiffs, stated that the verdict included $280 million in compensatory damages and a massive $1.4 billion in punitive damages a clear message meant to reverberate across industries and institutions.
“This verdict is about justice,” Beckworth said. “But more importantly, it’s about taking power back from the abusers — and their enablers and returning it to those he tried to control and silence.”
Toback, now 80, had repeatedly denied the allegations, claiming any interactions were consensual. In recent months, he had chosen to represent himself in court but failed to appear for proceedings. In January, the judge issued a default judgment against him, and the March trial proceeded solely to determine damages.
The verdict not only reopens long-closed wounds but reaffirms how far the conversation around sexual abuse and power has shifted in less than a decade. While prosecutors in Los Angeles previously declined to charge Toback due to the expiration of legal deadlines, civil courts now backed by legislative changes have become battlegrounds for truth and accountability.
Legal experts suggest the Toback ruling may signal a new era in civil justice, one where abusers can no longer hide behind institutional protections or legal technicalities. "When survivors are believed, and when society begins to correct decades of inaction, it’s a shift not just in law but in culture," said legal analyst Dana Hughes.
The women involved in the case, many of whom remained anonymous throughout the proceedings, expressed hope that this outcome would embolden others to speak out, even years later. “For decades, I carried this trauma in silence,” Monahan said. “And today, a jury believed me. Believed us. That changes everything.”
As Toback faces one of the most severe legal consequences for sexual abuse in the entertainment world, survivors, advocates, and allies are calling this moment not the end but a powerful step forward in the continuing reckoning against sexual violence and the misuse of power.