Donna Karan blames ‘how women are dressing’ for the Harvey Weinstein issue

I often take informal bets with you guys and gals, often based on my gossip hunches. I could have made a bet that at least one prominent person would act as a Harvey Weinstein Apologist in some spectacularly deluded way. But I would not have bet on Donna Friggin’ Karan being that person. Like, I would put $10 on George Clooney being that person, or maybe Ben Affleck or Matt Damon. But Donna Karan? Is Donna even that close with Harvey Weinstein? I have no idea. But she certainly tried valiantly to defend a Pervert’s Honor. How did she try? By blaming the victims… for what they were wearing, and how they carry themselves. Oh, Donna.

Fashion designer Donna Karan is standing by Harvey Weinstein and has suggested his alleged victims may have been ‘asking for it’ by the way the women act and dress. During a red carpet interview at the CinéFashion Film Awards on Sunday, the DKNY creator was asked to weigh in on the scandal hours after the disgraced film mogul was fired from his company. Unlike many Hollywood stars and celebs, Karan did not condemn the 65-year-old, who has been accused of sexually harassing multiple woman over the span of decades, and instead pointed the finger at his accusers.

She told a reporter: ‘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. 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?’

When asked whether Hollywood has been ‘busted’, she replied with a smile: ‘I don’t think it’s only Harvey Weinstein. I don’t think we’re only looking at him. I think we’re looking at a world much deeper than that. Yes, I think he’s being looked at right now as a symbol, not necessarily as him. I know his wife, I think they’re wonderful people, Harvey has done some amazing things. I think we have to look at our world and what we want to say and how we want to say it as well.’

The 69-year-old went on to say that the issue at hand is not solely Weinstein’s fault.

‘You look at everything all over the world today and how women are dressing and what they are asking by just presenting themselves the way they do. What are they asking for? Trouble,’ she said.

[From The Daily Mail]

I guess only a fashion designer truly knows the secret code of dressing to become harassment-bait and abuse-bait and rape-bait. It’s a wonder Donna Karan doesn’t share what, exactly, women are wearing to become so susceptible to abuse, harassment and worse. Is it a certain kind of power suit? A certain cut of dress? A certain fabric? It must be! It must be that Harvey Weinstein’s victims are complicit, because of the way they dress, the way they dance, the way they present themselves. Of course. It must be that women exist in the world to A) buy Donna Karan’s crap and B) be victimized for simply existing in the same space as perverts and abusers, then blamed for existing. This mode of thinking was around when I was a kid, and what’s great is that we’re SO FAR PAST this way of thinking, this series of blame-the-victim excuses, that Donna is getting categorically slammed for her statements. Twenty years ago, this would have been a “legitimate” take on the Weinstein story. But it’s not anymore, and thank God for that. Drag her, people. She deserves to be dragged for MONTHS.

PS… Please do not threadjack. There are so many stories about and around this Weinstein mess, and I will get to them. Please have faith in the gossip system and don’t derail comment threads with something which will discussed in a separate post.