Donna Karan Suggests Harvey Weinstein’s Alleged Victims Were ‘Asking For’ It

The designer was lambasted on Twitter for her comments, with Rose McGowan calling her “scum in a fancy dress.”

Fashion designer Donna Karan sparked outrage online when she defended her friend, the “wonderful” Harvey Weinstein, in a red carpet interview on Sunday night and suggested that his alleged sexual harassment victims were somehow “asking for” it.

Speaking to a reporter at the CinéFashion Film Awards in Los Angeles, Karan, 69, implied that the blame for the alleged attacks couldn’t be borne by the studio executive alone. Video of the exchange was shared online Monday by the U.K. tabloid the Daily Mail.

“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. Certainly in the country of Haiti where I work, in Africa, in the developing world, it’s been a hard time for women,” Karan said. “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?”

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