Who is James Toback’s wife Stephanie Kempf? All about Hollywood director’s spouse amid $1.68B s*xual assault case verdict

Harvard Man director-writer, James Toback, who has been married to Stephanie Kempf, was recently ordered to pay $1.68 billion by a New York jury in a s*xual assault trial verdict. The 80-year-old was initially accused in 2017, in the wake of the then-emerging #MeToo movement.

James Toback, whose career has spanned four decades, resides in New York with his second wife Stephanie. The director is known for movies like Exposed, Two Girls and a Guy, The Pick-up Artist, and many more. He has also directed documentaries like Seduced and Abandoned, Tyson (based on Mike Tyson’s life), and The Big Bang.

On The Big Bang, Toback collaborated with his current wife, Stephanie Kempf, who acted as the supervising editor. The couple shares a son named Andre, who was snapped on the red carpet of the 66th Annual Cannes Film Festival with his parents. The family attended the premiere of the Toback-directed Seduced And Abandoned.

Stephanie Kempf-Toback is a writer-teacher

Apart from supporting her husband, Stephanie is a writer and teacher who began her career as an educator in the 1990s, according to EntertainmentNow. She authored a sourcebook titled Finding Solutions to Hunger for the New York-based WHY (World Hunger Year) in 1997. She credited Jane and Larry Levine for inspiring her to write the sourcebook:

“The seed was planted in 1994 by Jane and Lany Levine, two enthusiastic board members of World Hunger Year. I was teaching literature classes in a public high school in New York City when Jane and Lany began telling me about the hunger-awareness workshops they were presenting to sixth-graders around the northeast. I was struck by Larry's descriptions of young people who were surprised to hear that hunger actually exists in the U.S.”

Stephanie Kempf also acknowledged her husband for his support:

“Finally, to James Toback, my love and appreciation, for introducing me to the power of words, and providing the intellectual nourishment and material and emotional support that kept me forward.”

James Toback’s wife, Stephanie Kempf, is the daughter of the late real estate developer and philanthropist

Stephanie’s father, Greg Kempf, was a retired builder and real estate developer from Evansville, Indiana. According to an obituary published in The Criterion (run by the Archdiocese of Indianapolis), Greg was known for his philanthropy and support of the church through various capital campaigns.

The newspaper reported that the former real estate developer passed away in January 2005 and was survived by his wife, nine children, siblings, grandchildren, and great-grandkids. Stephanie Kempf, daughter of Edwina and Greg, is one of the nine siblings. According to The Criterion, she has two sisters – Lisa Rivard and Kristin Baumberger – and six brothers – Gregory, Jeffery, Nicholas, Timothy, Todd, and Anthony Kempf.

Stephanie Kempf’s husband was accused of s*xual harassment by 395 women in 2018

After getting accused in 2017, following the #MeToo movement, James Toback was accused by 395 women of s*xual assault or misconduct, per LA Times. According to the report published by the columnist Glenn Whipp:

“I’ve [Whipp] spoken with or emailed every woman who reached out. Most of the 395 women offered highly detailed accounts, and some shared physical evidence — journal entries, photographs of plane tickets, receipts, scraps of paper with Toback’s writing.”

According to the Associated Press, 38 women initially filed a s*xual misconduct civil lawsuit against James Toback in 2022 under New York's Adult Survivors Act. The New York State Supreme Court suspended statutes of limitations over s*x offenses for a one-year window, which was followed by the filing of a lawsuit against the Tyson director.

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The verdict came after more than two years of filing, when a New York State jury awarded 40 women $1.68 billion. According to Nix Patterson, the defendant was liable to pay $1.4 billion in punitive damages to the plaintiffs and the remaining $280 million in compensatory damages.

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