Amber Tamblyn v James Woods: How Their Twitter Fight Escalated So Fast

Actor’s criticism of age difference in gay indie “Call Me By Your Name” slammed as hypocritical

Amber Tamblyn James Woods
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Amber Tamblyn and James Woods are unlikely to ever be paired onscreen together following the week the two have had.

Tamblyn has spent the last two days taking down Woods on Twitter after the actor compared the gay coming-of-age film “Call Me By Your Name” to pedophilia. She started by accusing Woods of making an inappropriate advance when she was 16 years old.

The exchange began when Woods tweeted on Sunday that the Armie Hammer movie was “chip[ping] away the last barriers of decency” with the hashtag #NAMBLA, referencing a pedophilia advocacy group.

The drama from Luca Guadagnino, which stars Timothee Chalamet as a 17-year-old who falls for a handsome older man played by Hammer, recently screened at the Toronto International Film Festival and has received a overwhelming positive reception from critics who hailed it for its warm portrayal of gay romance.

Hammer was the first to call out Woods for hypocrisy, responding “Didn’t you date a 19 year old when you were 60…….?”

According to Business Insider, Woods started dating actress Ashley Madison in 2007 when she was just 19 years old. He was 59 at the time. They reportedly split seven years later, and Woods started dating 20-year-old Kristen Bauguess when he was 66.

Tamblyn soon followed up with her own recollection of being asked out by Woods when she was still a teenager. Woods has since called the story “a lie.”

“James Woods tried to pick me and my friend up at a restaurant once,” she wrote. “He wanted to take us to Vegas. ‘I’m 16’ I said. ‘Even better’ he said.”

Tamblyn later backed up her account by sharing screenshots of conversations with others who also recalled the same story.

Lena Dunham, Don Cheadle and Tamblyn’s husband David Cross were among those who came to her support over the next day, with Dunham tweeting “F— this dude. I’d lay under a train for the brave queen that is @ambertamblyn (but I would not lay under James Woods).”

Though Woods said Monday night that he “[doesn’t] give a shit what liberals think,” he refused to give up the last word and shared Dunham’s tweet on Tuesday with the caption “Whew!”

Tamblyn later promised that she wouldn’t drop the issue either, hinting in a tweet Tuesday afternoon that there would be more to come.

“Calling me liar, James? This is now far from over. That I can promise,” she warned.

By Wednesday, Tamblyn made good on her promise in the form of an open letter published in Teen Vogue. Giving more details of the encounter, Tamblyn explained that it’s possible Woods wouldn’t remember the moment because she wasn’t famous at the time.

“The saddest part of this story doesn’t even concern me but concerns the universal woman’s story,” she wrote. “The nation’s harmful narrative of disbelieving women first, above all else. Asking them to first corroborate or first give proof or first make sure we’re not misremembering or first consider the consequences of speaking out or first let men give their side or first just let your sanity come last.”

“Legion” star Katie Aselton shared Tamblyn’s open letter, adding that she has “a James Woods story” of her own, which coincidentally takes place at the same Los Angeles diner, Mel’s. “I was 19,” she wrote. “How many of us are there? how many jameses?”

“Why the f— does he love Mel’s so much??” Dunham replied. “That’s the next mystery after we end his reign of terror.”

On Sept. 14, a day after Tamblyn’s open letter was published, she tweeted that she’s “not quite done yet” with the topic of James Woods.

“I cannot tell you how many people have texted, messaged and emailed me with personal stories about James Woods over the last day,” Tamblyn wrote. “And so I’m not quite done yet. I still have one more thing to say, which I will say very soon.”

See the entire saga below:

Reid Nakamura

TV reporter • reid.nakamura@thewrap.com • Twitter: @reidnakamura

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