Lisa Bloom Explains Why She Took Harvey Weinstein's Case

Lisa Bloom, who relinquished her role in Harvey Weinstein's fall from grace last week, released a statement explaining her decision to defend Weinstein.

"I saw this as a unique opportunity to change the way these stories go," she told The Hollywood Reporter.

Bloom is a well-regarded civil rights attorney with a history of defending women. She took on Blac Chyna's revenge porn case against reality star Robert Kardashian as well representing the women behind the recent allegations against Usher. So, her decision to advise Weinstein, who has been accused by multiple women of sexual harassment, assault, and rape, seemed out-of-character.

Bloom resigned days after the Times published its account of Weinstein's history without comment. According to emails obtained by the Times, two members of The Weinstein Company's board disagreed with Bloom's strategy.

There was also the small matter of Bloom's mother Gloria Allred, who is also a lawyer known for defending women.

"Had I been asked by Mr. Weinstein to represent him, I would have declined, because I do not represent individuals accused of sex harassment,” Allred said in a statement. “I only represent those who allege that they are victims of sexual harassment.”

In her interview with THR, Bloom explained she believed her history of working for accusers made her well-fit to work for the accused.

"Having represented a lot of those accusers, I know how damaging that is to them, how hurtful, how scary," she said. "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."

Bloom added that "no one is ready to hear an apology when a shocking story comes out." She was right. Weinstein's lengthy apology (that, yes, does quote Jay-Z) did little to redeem the producer.

After all that, Bloom did apologize for defending Weinstein. She claimed she was "genuinely moved" to discover that so many see her as a champion of women's rights, and that she was "sorry that they felt hurt."

Tuesday, The Hollywood Reporter reported that Weinstein hired attorney Patty Glaser to "protect his rights vis a vis the company." She is among the 500 leading attorneys in the U.S.