Letter From Harvey Weinstein’s Former Lawyer Reveals Plan To Discredit Accusers

Lisa Bloom, whose decision to briefly represent Harvey Weinstein back in 2017 shocked those who knew her as an advocate for victims of sexual assault, is under fire again after a newly-released letter she wrote to Weinstein reveals the ways she planned to discredit Weinstein's accusers. Published in New York Times reporters Megan Twohey and Jodi Kantor's new book She Said: Breaking the Sexual Harassment Story That Helped Ignite a Movement, the letter details Bloom's plan to use her own experience representing victims of sexual assault against Weinstein's own accusers, a betrayal not just to her former clients, but also ones she's currently representing.

Bloom originally told Refinery29 that she only represented Weinstein "to get him to acknowledge what he did wrong," but the letter reveals that was not entirely truthful.

"I feel equipped to help you against the Roses of the world, because I have represented so many of them," she wrote, referring to accusations made by actress Rose McGowan. "They start out as impressive, bold women, but the more one presses for evidence, the weaknesses and lies are revealed."

The letter goes on to detail their potential next steps, which included painting McGowan as mentally unstable, starting a foundation for women, and cleaning up Weinstein's Google results so the negative articles would be harder to find.

"This was somebody who was aware of some of the serious allegations of sexual harassment and sexual assault against Weinstein, and that she signed up for a much darker role," author Twohey said in an interview with Vanity Fair. "She spells out in this memo, which basically says, These are all the underhanded tactics that I’m going to use to undermine your accusers. She’s essentially saying, All of this work that I’ve done with victims, I’m now going to harness that and work against them on your behalf. It was a pretty jaw-dropping moment."

When asked for comment about on the full contents of the letter, a rep for Bloom sent Refinery29 her statement from earlier this week when excerpts from the letter were first released:

"I thank Jodi Kantor, Megan Twohey and Ronan Farrow for forcing me to confront the colossal mistake I made in working for Weinstein two years ago," she wrote. "While painful, I learn so much more from my mistakes than my successes. When the first woman went on record accusing him of sexual assault, I immediately resigned and apologized, but that was not enough. My law firm went from 95% to 100% victim side and that’s where we stay, winning victories for clients against Bill Cosby, Paul Marciano, Bill O’Reilly, and many others you’ve heard of. To those who missed my 2017 apology, and especially to the women, I apologize again. I judge others not by their one worst mistake but their lifetime of work. In my case that is over three decades of fighting mostly for the underdogs against the powerful. Because of our many wins, my law firm has grown to on the largest victims’ rights firms in the country. I’m always humbled by the trust that our clients have in our hardworking team and our promise to them is that will continue to fight tirelessly for their rights."

According to Bloom's Twitter, she's still actively representing women in sexual assault cases, most recently Elizabeth Taylor against billionaire Alki David. It's worth wondering if clients will continue to retain Bloom following the statements in her letter.

Bloom's mother, noted feminist lawyer Gloria Allred, declined to comment. Geena Davis, whom Weinstein planned to approach regarding a collaboration according to Bloom's letter, did not immediately return Refinery29's request for comment.