Everybody makes mistakes, everybody has those days.
That’s what Lisa Bloom is screaming ever since receiving a ton of backlash since initially taking on Harvey Weinstein as a client when his sexual harassment scandal hit the fan.
In a new interview with The Hollywood Reporter, the longtime attorney opened up about her decision to represent the serial sexual abuser and why she’ll probably never take on a similar case again.
Related: Actress Says Harvey Grabbed Her By The Neck & Masturbated In Front Of Her
Gloria Allred‘s daughter said she thought having Harvey immediately come out with an apology instead of a denial would be a “unique opportunity to change the way these stories go”:
“Having represented a lot of those accusers, I know how damaging that is to them, how hurtful, how scary. It’s emotionally devastating. Because I had had that experience so many times with so many women I thought changing the response from the accused to immediately apologizing, expressing remorse, vowing to do better and never disrespecting the accusers would be a good thing for the victims.”
As we know now, that’s not what happened:
“It turns out I was wrong. It turns out nobody is ready to hear an apology when a shocking story comes out. I cannot, because of attorney client privilege, get into why I withdrew, but I think I can talk about what I was trying to do. My part in this was getting that response. I thought that was a good thing for women in this case and hopefully in future cases, because of course there will be future cases.”
Ultimately, Lisa is using this backlash as an opportunity to grow:
“This has been a powerful learning experience for me. I have heard the anger with me. I have given it deep thought. I believe in listening to people when they tell me they’re upset with me. People who love me, who care about me, who feel disappointed in me, I have to listen to them and I am listening to them.”
As for her mother’s negative response, Lisa said:
“Like when she publicly attacked me? Obviously, that doesn’t feel good. This is the kind of time, when you have a big public fall, when you find out who your friends are. Happily, for me, I have an astonishingly beautify group of friends who have relentlessly been reaching out to me to make sure I’m okay. I really frankly don’t deserve them. I have that and, of course, I have a wonderful husband and two wonderful adult children and a wonderful foster son and they’ve all been there for me in a big way. You count your blessings.”
And for how she’ll apply this experience to future cases, the attorney explained:
“What is life if you don’t try different things now and then? If you mean representing a high-profile guy accused of sexual harassment, I think the answer would be no. I was convinced that [Weinstein] was genuinely contrite and wanted to change. People were so shocked by the allegations that the felt the apology was hollow, that he had to say that. He didn’t have to. The others didn’t. Bill O’Reilly is still digging up dirt on one of my accusers, Perquita Burgess … For all of the deplorable things that Harvey has done, he’s not doing that. I think it’s very hard to hold in our minds two competing concepts. One: He did horrible things. Two: He’s handling things the right way now. Can we hold both of those concepts in our minds? For many people the answer is no.”
Is he handling things the “right way” now, though? It’s still all about him. Just like this interview is all about Lisa.
Thoughts???
[Image via Brian To/WENN.]
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