Twitter Slams Donna Karan For Saying Weinstein’s Accusers ‘Asking For It’

Fashion Designer Donna Karan has decidedly backed movie producer Harvey Weinstein suggesting his alleged sexual harassment victims may have been “asking for it” by the way they acted and dressed.

Karan has now joined a horde of celebrities, who have made their stance clear regarding the allegations against Weinstein. But unlike others, she refused to condemn the 65-year-old, accused of sexually harassing multiple women over the span of decades.

A New York Times investigation published Oct. 5 revealed how allegations against Weinstein stretched over nearly three decades, which was documented through interviews with current and former employees and film industry workers. The report also includes the legal records, emails and internal documents from his business, Miramax and the Weinstein Company.

This investigation prompted the company to fire its co-founder Oct. 8. The statement issued by the company said the decision was being made "in light of new information about misconduct by Harvey Weinstein that has emerged in the past few days,” the New York Times reported.

Karan opened up about her views on the matter during a red carpet interview at the CinéFashion Film Awards on Sunday. “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," she 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? 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?” she was quoted as saying by The Daily Mail. "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."

Later, Karan also went on to clarify how she has known Weinstein’s wife Georgina Chapman for years and described them as a ‘wonderful couple’. Her comments soon drew a swift Twitter rebuke. Actor Rose McGowan — one of Weinstein's alleged victims and a vocal opponent of the producer online — called her 'deplorable.'

Born in Queens, New York, Karan is a fashion designer who started her brand, 'Donna Karan' in 1985. In 1988, Karan extended her women's 'Donna Karan New York' line by creating a less expensive clothing line for younger women, called 'DKNY'.

In 1997, she had quit as the CEO of the company but continued as chairwoman and designer. Finally, in 2015, she decided to step down as the head of her eponymous company to focus her attention on her lifestyle brand, Urban Zen, which she established in 2007.

Karan, since then, has worked as a philanthropist and cultivated her leadership on the 'CFDA AIDS benefit', and 'Super Saturday,' an annual Hamptons tag sale Karan created with Liz Tilberis to benefit Ovarian Cancer Research Fund. In 2010, amid the aftermath of the earthquake in Haiti, Urban Zen also launched ‘Hope, Help & Relief Haiti’ in collaboration with ‘The Clinton Global Initiative’ to develop and support sustainable opportunities in Haiti. In 2016, The Urban Zen Foundation collaborated with on the ground partners to deliver critical aid in the form of emergency after Hurricane Matthew.

A world traveler and a lifelong yogi, Karan considers Urban Zen as the natural extension of her desire to find the missing link in the areas she cares most about. It is also the realization of Karan’s dream not just to dress people, but to address them, of which she talks about in detail in her 2015 autobiography, “My Journey."