‘I tried and failed’: John Oliver explains how he botched his sexual assault interview with Dustin Hoffman

In a extensive -- and sometimes hilarious -- interview with Sky One's Russell Howard, HBO host John Oliver admitted that questioning actor Dustin Hoffman about sexual abuse allegations made him "sad"," but said he had no choice because the topic was "unavoidable."

According to The Hollywood Reporter, Oliver questioned Hoffman during a panel discussion on the 20th anniversary of Wag The Dog about allegations that the actor sexually harassed then-17-year-old writer Anna Graham Hunter while she was working with him on a television adaptation of Arthur Miller's Death of a Salesman in 1985.

In the weeks leading up to a panel honoring Hoffman's 'Wag the Dog' on its 20th anniversary, allegations of abuse were levied against the actor, with Oliver recalling they had reached the point where they needed to be addressed.

"I knew the stories were out there, and I heard there were a few more coming, so bringing them up felt unavoidable," explained Oliver, who was the film panel host that evening. "We had to have a discussion about it."

According to the popular HBO host, he warned the producers that he was going to bring the allegations up, but had not anticipated how the questioning would eventually be covered in the aftermath.

"It became such a big story, but it became about my questions rather than Hoffman's answers," Oliver explained to Howard. "The questions weren't particularly remarkable, but his answers were … not great. It didn't really go anywhere constructive, so the whole thing just made me feel sad."

In retrospect, Oliver said his attempt to draw Hoffman out and open up a dialogue about sexual abuse was unsuccessful.

"I wanted it to become something more constructive," Oliver confessed. "I tried and failed."

You can watch video of the Oliver interview, and the original Hoffman confrontation, below: