Beth Stern had a run-in with disgraced movie director James Toback in a grocery store back when she was in her early 20s (and still Beth Ostrosky), according to husband and “King of All Media” Howard Stern. Toback has been the target of dozens of accusations by women claiming he hit on them with promises of “casting couch” liaisons in exchange for roles in movies. Stern said after Beth met Toback and heard him pitch her for a ballerina movie he was allegedly making, Toback called her repeatedly in the middle of the night, summoning her to the studio saying “this is your chance.” Beth said no. But as Howard says, the creepy method worked plenty for Toback, who targeted “the poor women who fall for this stuff, they just want to be actresses so badly.”
Stern said Beth “told me about this years ago. When [the new revelations about Toback] came out, I was like isn’t that the guy who she told me about? He’s a really gross guy, like O’Reilly.” (That’s former Fox Newser Bill O’Reilly, who has settled multiple cases of sexual harassment including one for a reported $32 million.) These days Beth Stern probably isn’t alone in the grocery store late at night too often. The former English major at the University of Pittsburgh married Stern in 2008. She is a devoted spokesperson for the North Shore Animal League, and host of the Hallmark Channel’s annual Kitten Bowl — a cutefest of cuddly felines that work their magic on Super Bowl Sunday for charity. Stern is also a rescue cat adopter, with dozens of cats about whom she has authored some delightful kitty books
