Bill Murray defends Dustin Hoffman: "He’s a crazy, like a Borscht Belt flirt, he has been his whole life, but he’s a really sweet man.”

In a recent interview held at the 92nd Street Y (via Yahoo) Bill Murray had to say about the Dustin Hoffman sexual assault accusations:

“Since we’re talking about Dustin Hoffman, I just want to say: Dustin Hoffman is a great man and a really good guy,” Murray said. “And I heard what happened to him, and Dustin Hoffman is a really decent person. He’s a crazy, like a Borscht Belt flirt, he has been his whole life, but he’s a really sweet man.”

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For the background of the Hoffman accusations, here's what I reported a few months ago:

"John Oliver was hosting a panel in relation to the 20th anniversary of "Wag the Dog," a great movie that has gained significant relevance in the last year of politics. Robert De Niro was there, so was Dustin Hoffman, the latter of which had his own accusations in regards to sexual harassment a few months back when writer Anna Graham Hunter wrote an op-ed for The Hollywood Reporter alleging that Hoffman groped her and spoke inappropriately about sex in front of her when she was an intern on the TV movie Death of a Salesman in 1985." Hunter was 17 and Hoffman was 47.  Inexcusable behavior but not something that should probably be brought up post-screening in front of an audience that wants to hear about the movie they just saw. And yet, that's exactly what Oliver did as he grilled Hoffman for over half an hour on the topic. The holier than thou attitude of Oliver rubbed me the wrong way, but you can make your own conclusions on this matter:

John Oliver is a perplexing figure of the highest order. He has more or less built up a P.C. empire from his HBO show "Last Week Tonight," which has become a YouTube trending topic on a weekly basis. He is the epitome of what is wrong with not just mainstream "news," but comedians taking a stab at politics. Yes, his show is generally well-researched and persuasive, up to a point, but the agenda is explicit, there are never two sides to the story in Oliver's world. A lot of the issues he covers make it seem too black and white, even though there are a lot more layers and sides to most of the topics. The facts, the evidence being brought forth are simply what Fox News and MSNBC do these days, picking and choosing facts and ignoring others in order to push an agenda. I believe this is not an unpopular opinion, there are more and more detractors of Oliver's style, the tired formula, the way his jokes are delivered, people are starting to realize what this guy is all about. I used to really like his show and its expository pieces, but I find that lately, it isn't just the blatant bias and one-sidedness that has turned me off, the dumbing down of topics to appeal to the "college left" has brought forth a clear and concisely drawn agenda.