Feminist attorney, Lisa Bloom, has resigned from her position advising alleged serial sexual harasser, Harvey Weinstein, after facing criticism from inside and outside Weinstein’s camp.
The lawyer, whose mother is also a feminist attorney — the famous Gloria Allred — posted her resignation to Twitter, claiming that Weinstein and his board were moving ahead on an “agreement,” and her services, apparently, were no longer necessary.
I have resigned as an advisor to Harvey Weinstein.
My understanding is that Mr. Weinstein and his board are moving toward an agreement.— Lisa Bloom (@LisaBloom) October 7, 2017
But Bloom had received criticism from all corners; the lawyer who often claims to be the voice of voiceless women facing harassment and intimidation from powerful men was throwing her support behind a Hollywood producer who reportedly tried to intimidate women into sexual affairs, confront starlets naked, and ask that they give him massages or watch him shower in order to get roles.
It was too much, even for Bloom’s mother to take. Allred told media that, “had I been asked by Mr. Weinstein to represent him, I would have declined, because I do not represent individuals accused of sex harassment.” Hollywood starlet Rose McGowan lashed out at those who claim to be advocates for women, but who couldn’t bring themselves to speak out as stories of Weinstein’s alleged behavior saturated media.
Mika Brzezinski pulled out of a three-book deal with Weinstein’s company on Saturday.
And as Bloom continued to defend Weinstein — saying that he was an “old dinosaur learning new ways” and reforming his creepy habits with the help of a therapist — more, stranger allegations emerged. A female newscaster from New York claimed Weinstein cornered her at a party and masturbated in front of her, keeping her prisoner until he was finished.
The high-profile public response should have taken its toll on Bloom’s business and reputation — after all, she seems to want to make her name as a feminist icon, not as a lawyer for scummy Hollywood harassers — but allegations surfaced Sunday morning that it may have been Weinstein’s camp that parted ways with Bloom, and not the other way around.
It seems Bloom, who has regularly spoken out about the intimidation women face when seeking to confront their harassers, abusers, and rapists may have wanted to intimidate Weinstein’s victims into silence with an aggressive public relations campaign that included photos of those same women looking chummy with Weinstein at parties and on red carpets.
According to The New York Times:
As the board convened an emergency phone meeting on Thursday evening to address the allegations, published in an investigation by The Times, Ms. Bloom sent an email to board members attacking the article. She outlined a plan that involved “more and different reporting,” including “photos of several of the accusers in very friendly poses with Harvey after his alleged misconduct.”
That’s just, frankly, horrifying — but it seems it was all that was left after the team tried to pin Weinstein’s behavior on a “vast right-wing conspiracy” and deflect attention from Weinstein’s alleged sexual misconduct by telling his leftist Hollywood friends that a freed-up Weinstein company would happily bankroll their anti-Trump projects.