Donna Karan Defends Harvey Weinstein, Says Women May Be 'Asking For It'

BRB, setting all my DKNY clothes on fire

Last week, Harvey Weinstein’s career as a lifelong lecherous sexual harasser/ Hollywood producer came to an abrupt end days after a New York Times article detailing years of allegations and payoffs went to print. The article covered decades worth of sexual harassment and abuse perpetrated by Weinstein, and inspired hundreds of women to take to Twitter detailing when they met “their Harvey Weinstein.”

Yup. His name is now synonymous with workplace sexual harassment. But decades worth of allegations won’t stop fashion designer Donna Karan from sticking up for her buddy. The DKNY founder and namesake stuck her entire leg in her mouth when asked about the allegations during a red carpet interview at the CinéFashion Film Awards on Sunday.

When asked about the allegations, Karan implied that the women “asked for it.” When the shit hit the fan she tried to claim that her words were “taken out of context.”

No. No, they weren’t. You can watch the video yourself, but here is a transcription.

“I think we have to look at ourselves. Obviously, the treatment of women all over the world is something that has always had to be identified,” she told the reporter. “Certainly in the country of Haiti where I work, in Africa, in the developing world, it’s been a hard time for women.

“To see it here in our own country is very difficult, but I also think how do we display ourselves? 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?”

HUH? What? Come again, Donna? Are you, a female fashion mogul actually saying that how women dress has anything to do with sexual harassment? This is particularly rich, considering Weinstein had quite the reputation for calling actresses for meetings and showing up in a bathrobe.

Karan then described Weinstein and his wife, Marchesa designer Georgina Chapman, as “wonderful people.” Then she said Weinstein has done “amazing things.”

Amazing things? Like this, maybe? “Two decades ago, the Hollywood producer Harvey Weinstein invited Ashley Judd to the Peninsula Beverly Hills hotel for what the young actress expected to be a business breakfast meeting,” reports the New York Times. “Instead, he had her sent up to his room, where he appeared in a bathrobe and asked if he could give her a massage or she could watch him shower.”

Or maybe the allegations that TV reporter Lauren Sivan made? Are those amazing? She says she was cornered in a restaurant’s empty kitchen by Weinstein, who proceeded to pull out his penis and masturbate in front of her when she rejected his advances. He asked her to “just stand there and shut up” while he ejaculated into a plant.

Vile.

Karan is attempting to backpedal and fix the damage her mouth did, but good luck with that.

Karan’s business is built on making clothes for women. And she’s one of the first people to openly defend Weinstein’s actions.

Words like this just don’t fall out of your mouth. Sorry, they don’t. She went on for way too long and had way too much to say on the matter. How do we display ourselves? 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?

No, Donna. NO.