Meryl Streep says Dustin Hoffman slapping her in 'Kramer vs. Kramer' was 'overstepping'

• Meryl Streep said in an interview with The New York Times that Dustin Hoffman slapping her in the filming of 1979's "Kramer vs. Kramer" was "overstepping."
• Hoffman has been accused of sexual misconduct by multiple women since November.
• In 1979, Streep told Time that Hoffman groped her breast in her audition for "Kramer vs. Kramer."

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In the wake of numerous sexual misconduct allegations against Dustin Hoffman, Meryl Streep discussed with The New York Times an incident between her and Hoffman in the filming of 1979's "Kramer vs. Kramer," when Hoffman slapped her on the face without warning.

In a joint interview with Tom Hanks, promoting their new film "The Post," Streep told the Times that Hoffman's slap in the first scene of the Oscar-winning film "Kramer vs. Kramer" was "overstepping."

"This is tricky because when you're an actor, you're in a scene, you have to feel free," Streep said. "I'm sure that I have inadvertently hurt people in physical scenes. But there's a certain amount of forgiveness in that.

"But this was my first movie, and it was my first take in my first movie, and he just slapped me," she continued. "And you see it in the movie. It was overstepping."

Streep added that such behavior is "being corrected in this moment" because "people won't accept it anymore."

In a Time article from 1979 that resurfaced in November, following the allegations against Hoffman, Streep said Hoffman groped her breast in the audition for her role in "Kramer vs. Kramer."

Multiple women have accused Hoffman of sexual misconduct since early November, including two women who accused the actor of sexual assault.

Hoffman's lawyer described the sexual assault allegations published by Variety in December as "defamatory falsehoods."

Read the Times interview here.