One of the many perplexing things to emerge in the days following news of Harvey Weinstein’s systemic abuse toward women was that he was being represented by Lisa Bloom, a lawyer known for defending high-profile victims of sexual abuse. Why, we wondered, would a woman who’s represented everyone from Blac Chyna to a Trump rape accuser, make such a sudden and dramatic pivot to the wrong side?
But initial confusion quickly fell away when it became clear that Bloom’s defense of Weinstein had little to do with her interest in him, personally, and possibly more to do with the fact that the two were working to adapt her 2014 book, Suspicion Nation, into a six-part miniseries.
On The View on Friday, Bloom confirmed what we already knew, which is that her desire to keep the project on track “clouded her judgment.” From the segment:
“I did have the book deal, I announced it on social media...And when I was approached by the Weinstein company and Jay-Z to do a documentary about it, yeah, I was thrilled...
“I think what you’re saying, what people have been telling me is, ‘Lisa, were you so excited about this that it clouded your judgment?’ And yeah. And I say ‘yeah.’ I think so. I think I have to cop to that.”
Critics were quick to attack Bloom, angry that a self-proclaimed defender of women’s rights could switch teams with such ease. Bloom eventually caved to pressure to drop Weinstein, and apologized for associating with him in the first place:
“I very much regret ever being involved in this. I’m mortified that I was connected with him in any way. All the people who have reached out to me to say, ‘Lisa, we’re hurt and disappointed in you.’ I get it. And I’m very, very sorry.”
Certainly not the most high-profile apology today, but an apology nonetheless.