Harvey Weinstein’s attorney said Friday that it can be dangerous to “believe all women.”
Donna Rotunno, who is representing the disgraced Hollywood producer, told Fox News host Martha MacCallum that she believed the evidence would clear her client and that the jurors would be surprised by the evidence that eventually came out.
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Rotunno explained that, while she couldn’t give specific details about an ongoing case, she believed that the cases she was handling were more like buyer’s remorse on the part of the women than something nefarious on the part of her client.
“You have to talk about this in a general sense because the judge is not allowed to talk about specific witnesses in this case, but when I do think that when a woman makes a choice to put herself in a circumstance, it doesn’t mean that she deserves what happens if she does something that’s not consensual, but we believe in these circumstances they are consensual. If you enter into a consensual circumstance and later change your mind, that’s where they are,” she said.
“Has Harvey Weinstein convinced you that he is innocent of these two cases that you are doing for him?” MacCallum asked.
Rotunno said, “Absolutely, and it’s not about what Harvey has to convince me of, it’s about what the evidence has convinced me of.”
MacCallum pressed again, asking whether Rotunno would still represent Weinstein if she were not so convinced of his innocence. “If you were not convinced — you say that everyone deserves a defense. If you were not convinced he was innocent, would you still represent him?”
“I absolutely would represent him because as you said I believe everybody has a right to a defense,” Rotunno responded. “In this circumstance, I absolutely believe that Harvey Weinstein is not a rapist and I believe that he did not rape the two women accusing him.” (RELATED: Actress Rose McGowan Gives Searing Speech Ahead Of Harvey Weinstein Rape Trial)
“Are you saying that they should have known or are complicit in these attacks?” MacCallum asked. “That’s the dynamic and they knew they were walking into?”
“No,” Rotunno replied, adding that the women in question each had a previous relationship with Weinstein and suggesting that the story was not quite as simple as it had been made out to be.
“I think the jurors will be surprised when they hear the evidence, especially given all the media coverage,” she added. “When you work with someone you’re in a different situation than if you have a relationship with someone. That’s different than working with them and I think it’s also different when you want to work for someone or you want something they can offer you. This is not a situation at least in the case that I’m handling where they were working in an office with Mr. Weinstein. These are women who have had a relationship with Mr. Weinstein.”
“You say it’s transactional on their part?” MacCallum asked.
“Correct,” Rotunno agreed.
MacCallum then brought up the “believe all women” mantra that was inspired by the #MeToo movement. “A lot of people say believe all women. Do you believe any women?”
“I believe women when I believe the facts and evidence support their cases,” Rotunno explained, adding, “But I think it’s very dangerous to believe all women without looking at the back story, the rest of the evidence.”
Rotunno concluded by saying that she believed the trial would show that the women who accused Weinstein may have only told part of the story, saying that the things they had decided to leave out would be “very telling.”