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Filmmaker James Toback was recently ordered to pay $1.68 billion to 40 women in punitive damages by the New York State jury on April 9, 2025. A report by Variety on April 9, 2025, stated that Toback was accused of s*xual assault in a lawsuit filed by all the women back in 2022.
For the unversed, James has gained recognition as the director of projects like Harvard Man and Fingers. He has even served as a writer of a few of them, and his fortune is estimated to be $10 million, as per Celebrity Net Worth.
James Toback was not present during the trial and had previously avoided attending the pre-trial hearings, per Variety. Meanwhile, the victims additionally received compensatory damages worth $280 million alongside punitive damages of $1.4 billion.
Nix Patterson LLP confirmed the judgment in a press release obtained by the PR Newswire, stating that the verdict came out following a trial that lasted for a week. Lead counsel of the victims, Brad Beckworth, said in the press release that the court’s verdict aimed to take away the power from those who were involved in activities like s*xual assault and give it to those who were silenced.
The press release also mentioned the charges against James Toback, which also included false imprisonment, coercion, and psychological abuse.
As per the legal documents of the lawsuit that was originally filed against Toback, it claimed that James allegedly lured women through his influence in the entertainment industry, forcing them to get involved in compromising situations. According to People magazine, the lawsuit also mentioned:
“The Plaintiffs acted at all times under duress due to Toback’s repeated explicit and implicit threats of blacklisting them in the industry, physically harming them, and/or even killing them if they did not comply with and remain silent about the s*xual abuse they endured.”
James Toback’s net worth: Career and other details explained
The Manhattan, New York City native has accumulated a huge fanbase over the years for directing various films. According to Celebrity Net Worth, James was employed as a journalist and had worked for Esquire alongside The City College of New York, where he was a professor.
James Toback’s directorial debut happened in 1978 with a movie titled Fingers. This was followed by Love and Money, Exposed, and The Pick-Up Artist. He gained popularity as the writer of the crime drama film, The Gambler. Distributed by Paramount Pictures, the film featured James Caan, Paul Sorvino, and many others in the lead.
While speaking to Vanity Fair in February 2014, James Toback recalled how he developed the film’s script, saying that he had a gambling habit after he completed his higher studies at Harvard University, which also helped him to write a semi-autobiographical novel, The Gambler. However, he eventually changed the novel into a movie script.
Furthermore, James had many films in his credits as an actor, including Alice, Death of a Dynasty, The Outsider, and Mississippi Grind. Moreover, he was nominated in the category of Best Original Screenplay for the biographical crime drama Bugsy (1991) at the Academy Awards and the Golden Globes.
