Fashion designer Donna Karan defended Democrat mega-donor and Miramax co-founder Harvey Weinstein against allegations made by multiple women who claim they were sexually harassed and assaulted by the movie mogul.
During an interview Sunday at a red carpet event, Karan shifted the blame of the Weinstein sex scandal onto the women involved in the case.
“To see it here in our own country is very difficult, but I also think, how do we display ourselves,” Karan told The Hollywood Reporter. “How do we present ourselves as women? What are we asking? Are we asking for it by presenting all the sensuality and all the sexuality? And what are we throwing out to our children today about how to dance and how to perform and what to wear? How much should they show?”
“It’s not Harvey Weinstein, you look at everything all over the world today and what [women] are asking by just presenting themselves the way they do,” said Karan, wearing a revealing V-neck dress. “I think [Weinstein] is being looked at right now as a symbol and not necessarily as him.”
“Obviously, the treatment of women all over the world is something that has always had to be identified,” Karan continued. “Certainly in the country of Haiti where I work, in Africa, in the developing world, it’s been a hard time for women.”
Karan’s comments on the Weinstein scandal come as the movie mogul has been accused of a decades-long pattern of sexually harassing young women in the entertainment industry, as Breitbart News reported.
In many cases, Weinstein allegedly would invite women back to his home before asking them if they would give him a massage or watch him shower while he stood in a bathrobe.
The New York Times chronicled the allegations:
In interviews, eight women described varying behavior by Mr. Weinstein: appearing nearly or fully naked in front of them, requiring them to be present while he bathed or repeatedly asking for a massage or initiating one himself. The women, typically in their early or mid-20s and hoping to get a toehold in the film industry, said he could switch course quickly — meetings and clipboards one moment, intimate comments the next. One woman advised a peer to wear a parka when summoned for duty as a layer of protection against unwelcome advances.
Weinstein has had eight sexual harassment complaints filed against him over the course of 25 years, though that did not keep Hollywood stars and production companies from working with the embattled filmmaker.
John Binder is a reporter for Breitbart News. Follow him on Twitter at @JxhnBinder.