The 80-year-old actor, who was accused by Anna Graham Hunter, an intern on his movie "Death of a Salesman", of sexually harassing her on the set 32 years ago, defended himself during a discussion with John Oliver.
According to The Washington Post, Hoffman referenced "Tootsie" as he said: "I would not have made that movie if I didn't have an incredible respect for women. The theme of the movie is he became a better man by having been a woman."
The 1982 film sees Hoffman star as an unsuccessful actor who disguises himself as a woman in order to get a role in a soap opera.
"I said when I came home to my wife that I never realised men were that were brutal, that men are that obvious. They didn't find me attractive and they just erased me...
"What makes me sad is that I grew up in an environment in which we were taught to want the girls on the covers of magazines, the models, and I said to my wife 'Look at how many interesting women I passed up ... look at how many women were erased by me because of the generation I was born.' That was a very strong reason for me wanting to make that movie," he said.