Harvey Weinstein’s lawyer has defended the Hollywood casting couch and in turn, Harvey Weinstein.
Benjamin Brafman spoke to The Times about his views on women who ‘made a decision’ to sleep with the shamed Hollywood executive.
He is known for representing several mobsters, Dominque Strauss Kahn, Michael Jackson and P. Diddy.
“If a woman decides that she needs to have sex with a Hollywood producer to advance her career and actually does it and finds the whole thing offensive, that’s not rape.”
“You made a conscious decision that you’re willing to do something that is personally offensive in order to advance your career.”
The 69-year-old seems to have missed the point that none of the victims who have spoken out against Weinstein are alleging that they made decisions to ‘advance their career’ which they later regretted.
The women who were subject to his harassment and abuse have said how everyone around him manipulated them into the dangerous situations they faced with the disgraced producer.
While Brafman said these women ‘made decisions to advance their career’, we have only seen evidence that Weinstein destroyed the careers of women who didn’t comply with his abusive ways. He blacklisted several actresses who stood up to him calling them ‘difficult to work with’, proving this wasn’t a ‘decision’ as his lawyer has asserted.
While his lawyer agrees that the 65-year-old may have been offensive he tries to distance the producer from criminal status, seemingly forgetting that the allegations of rape brought against him are exceptionally serious criminal charges.
“However offensive the whole saga may be on both your parts, that’s not a crime…. There’s a big difference between that and criminal conduct.”
The profile in The Times comes just before the first Oscars since the #MeToo movement.
Actresses and actors will not be wearing black to the ceremony.
