UPDATED 10/7/17 at 5:36 p.m. ET: Attorney Lisa Bloom has resigned as Harvey Weinstein's adviser, following multiple sexual assault allegations against the Hollywood producer.
Bloom faced a wave of backlash after accusations against Weinstein were published in a bombshell New York Times report. Many criticized her for standing by the entertainment mogul despite her history of defending sexual assault victims against powerful men.
She addressed the criticism earlier this week on Good Morning America.
“I’ve done a lot of cases for women and I’ve often thought, ‘Gee, I wish I could get on the other side and smack that guy around a little bit verbally,’” Bloom said. "Here was an opportunity of a guy saying, ‘Lisa, what should I do? I have behaved badly.’ I’m like, ‘Good. I’m going to tell you what to do. Be honest. Be real.’”
Read the original story below.
Just a day after a bombshell New York Times story detailing decades of sexual harassment, Hollywood mogul Harvey Weinstein is facing another accusation.
Lauren Sivan gave an account of a 10-year-old incident to the Huffington Post. Sivan, who was a reporter for a local cable channel in New York City at the time, says she met Weinstein at the famed Italian restaurant Cipriani. Later in the evening, they, along with other people, ended up at Socialista, a club that counted Weinstein and Giuseppe Cipriani among its investors.
Sivan says that Weinstein invited her to tour the club's restaurant. After Weinstein told the staff who was there to leave, he tried to kiss Sivan, who rejected him. She says that the mogul then trapped her in a vestibule and proceeded to expose himself and masturbate in front of her.
Much of Sivan's story is backed up by a friend of hers who was also there that night, who also spoke to HuffPost.
In the wake of the Times story, Weinstein is planning a leave of absence from the board of his company. In addition, three members of the Weinstein Co. board have jumped ship.
Weinstein also gave an angry interview to Emily Smith of Page Six. In it, he claimed that the Times went after him for personal reasons.
"They never wrote about the documentary I did with Jay-Z about Rikers Island, they never write that I raised $50 million for amfAR, nor my work with Robin Hood—instead they focus on trying to bring me down," he said. "This is a vendetta, and the next time I see [Times executive editor] Dean Baquet, it will be across a courtroom."
