Donna Karan may end up paying the price — literally — for comments she made that some women may be ‘asking for trouble’ in the wake of sexual assault allegations against Harvey Weinstein.
On Sunday, the DKNY designer defended Weinstein, telling DailyMail.com that women need to look at how they display themselves and consider what they’re ‘asking for’.
She has since been widely criticized and accused of victim-blaming, leading made social media users to demand a boycott of her designs.
Offending words: Donna Karan, 69, defended Harvey Weinstein in a red carpet interview with DailyMail.com
Upsetting: She said that women need to look at what they wear and how they are presenting themselves and may be asking for trouble
She won’t buy: Since the interview, some social media users have been calling for a boycott of her designs
Angry: They have called Karan out for being insensitive
In trouble? Some have said they won’t buy from her line DKNY anymore; she also has a higher-priced line, Donna Karan New York
The hashtag #BoycottDonnaKaran has been trending since DailyMail.com published video of her comments earlier this week.
‘Nothing worse than another woman betraying other women. Makes her complicit in revictimizing them,’ wrote one woman.
‘Women are not asking to be raped based on their clothing. #boycottdonnakaran I wore khakis w/long sleeve shirt when attacked by a stranger, wrote another.
During a red carpet interview at the CinéFashion Film Awards on Sunday, Karan was asked to weigh in on the scandal, hours after Weinstein 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 said: ‘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.
Mea culpa: Karan later claimed her comments had been ‘taken out of context’ and apologized to anyone who was offended and all victims of abuse
Rape culture: Some are still calling for a boycott and reiterating that women don’t ‘ask for it’ no matter what they wear
She said: ‘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?’
Not the clothes: This woman noted that, like many others, she was assaulted while wearing an outfit that wasn’t remotely ‘sexual’
Encouraging it: Some have said that victim-blaming language enables rape culture
Um… Karan had also defended Weinstein and said he has done ‘amazing things’ and was being used as a ‘symbol’ rather than looked at as a person
‘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 went on: ‘I think [Weinstein’s] being looked at right now as a symbol, not necessarily as him. I know his wife, I think they’re wonderful people. Harvey’s done some amazing things.
‘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.’
Outraged by these comments, Twitter users have called for customers to stop buying Donna Karan New York and DKNY clothing.
‘Disgusting. Subscribing to the thought that it’s OK to harass/molest women because of clothes is part of the problem,’ wrote one.
Not impressed: Rose McGowan ripped into the designer, sharing a screenshot of DailyMail.com’s story
History: McGowan (with Weinstein in 2007) reportedly sued him after an incident in the 1990s, but was legally forced not to speak about it in the settlement
‘She is the reason women are afraid to report harassment/assaults. She is the example of how women keep other women down,’ added another.
‘How insulting to women everywhere! I will never ever buy anything from her again,’ said yet another.
Since the video earned widespread attention, Karan has come forward to apologize.
‘Last night, I was honored at the Cinemoi Fashion Film Awards in Hollywood and while answering a question on the red carpet I made a statement that unfortunately is not representative of how I feel or what I believe,’ she said.
She also claimed the quotes were taken out of context — though they appear in a video — ‘and do not represent how I feel about the current situation concerning Harvey Weinstein.
‘I believe that sexual harassment is NOT acceptable and this is an issue that MUST be addressed once and for all regardless of the individual,’ she said. ‘I am truly sorry to anyone that I offended and everyone that has ever been a victim.’
Jobless: Harvey Weinstein (seen here last Friday) was fired from his own firm on Sunday after the board – including his brother – decided he had to go
For some, however, the damage was done. Rose McGowan, who accused Weinstein of raping her, shared her outrage on Twitter.
She posted a screenshot of the DailyMail.com story with the message: ‘Donna Karan you are a DEPLORABLE. Aiding and abetting is a moral crime. You are scum in a fancy dress.’
According to The New York Times report that initiated Weinstein’s downfall this week, McGowan sued the producer in the 1990s but settled out of court for $100,000.
In doing so, she had to sign a non-disclosure agreement (NDA) forbidding her from talking about the case.
She hasn’t named Weinstein directly in any of her Twitter comments so far, but has referred obliquely to abuse that she sustained.
Last year, she tweeted under the hashtag #WhyWomenDontReport with the message ‘Because my ex sold our movie to my rapist for distribution’.
And on Sunday she posted a photo of herself taken in March 1997 at the Independent Spirit Awards in Los Angeles, writing: ‘This is the girl that was hurt by a monster. This is who you are shaming with your silence.’
That picture was taken just two months after an incident occurred between McGowan and Weinstein inside a hotel room during the Sundance Film Festival.
WEINSTEIN’S ACCUSERS
Harvey Weinstein has been slammed with multiple accusations of sexual harassment after a report detailing a $100,000 settlement he reportedly made to Rose McGowan in the mid-’90s emerged this week.
Below are some of the women who have accused Weinstein of harassing them, or other women.
Rose McGowan: The actress, who made her breakthrough in 1996 in the Weinstein-produced slasher revival movie Scream, reportedly sued Weinstein after he approached her during production of that movie. She signed a non-disclosure agreement at the close of the suit and has only referred to him obliquely in social media since. On Sunday she referred to being abused by a ‘monster’ and has previously referred to being raped by a studio head.
Ashley Judd: Judd’s film roles include the thriller Kiss the Girls – and says that during the filming of that movie Weinstein repeatedly asked her to watch him shower. She was one of the women who spoke out to The New York Times this week, saying: ‘Women have been talking about Harvey amongst ourselves for a long time, and it’s simply beyond time to have the conversation publicly.’
Zelda Perkins was 25 when, as an assistant of Weinstein’s in London, she reportedly confronted the mogul for harassing her and ‘several’ other women; she later settled out of court
Lauren O’Connor: A former employee of The Weinstein Company, she told executives there in the fall of 2015 that there was ‘a toxic environment for women at this company’ after one of her colleagues told her that Weinstein had pressured her into massaging him while he was naked, the NYT said.
Ambra Battilana: An Italian actress and model, she told the NYT that in March 2015 Weinstein invited her to his New York office. There, she said, he asked if her breasts were real before grabbing them and putting his hands up her skirt. She reported the alleged incident to police, but they did not press charges. According to the NYT, Weinstein later paid her off.
Laura Madden: An ex-employee, she told the NYT that Weinstein had asked her to give him massages from 1991 onwards, while they were both in London and Dublin. ‘It was so manipulative,’ she told the NYT. ‘You constantly question yourself – am I the one who is the problem?’ Weinstein denied knowledge.
Emily Nestor: Nestor was a temporary employee of the Weinstein Company for just one day in 2014 when Weinstein approached her and offered to boost her career in exchange for sex, the NYT reported.
Zelda Perkins: An assistant of Weinstein’s based in London in 1998; then 25, she reportedly confronted Weinstein after she and ‘several’ others were harassed and later settled out of court.
Elizabeth Karlsen, an Oscar-winning producer, said a female executive told her almost 30 years ago that she had found Weinstein naked in her bedroom in a Miramax-rented property
Elizabeth Karlsen: The Oscar-nominated producer of Carol and The Crying Game, among others, told The Hollywood Reporter on Sunday that almost 30 years ago, an unnamed young female executive who had worked at Miramax with Weinstein had found him naked in her bedroom one night. The exec was in a house rented by Miramax at the time to cut its overheads.
Liza Campbell: A freelance script reader, she told the UK’s Sunday Times that Weinstein had summoned her to his hotel room in London before telling her to get in the bath with him.
Lauren Sivan: The former Fox news host said that Weinstein trapped her in a closed restaurant and masturbated in front of her to completion in 2007. He took her to a closed restaurant beneath a club she had visited and attempted to kiss her, then when she refused he cornered her and made her watch him touch himself, according to The Huffington Post.
Jessica Hynes: The British actress, best known for her roles in the Bridget Jones movies and for co-creating and co-writing the sitcom Spaced, said she was invited to audition for Weinstein when she was 19 – in a bikini. Hynes, formerly known as Jessica Stevenson, said she refused to wear the skimpy item – and lost the job.
Romola Garai: British actress Romola Garai said she felt “violated” following a meeting with Harvey Weinstein in his London hotel room when she was 18 in which he was in a bathrobe. Garai, best known for her role in “Atonement”, said she had already been hired for a part but was told to audition privately with the Hollywood mogul because ‘you had to be personally approved by him’. “Like every other woman in the industry, I’ve had an ‘audition’ with Harvey Weinstein,” she told The Guardian. ‘So I had to go to his hotel room in the Savoy and he answered the door in his bathrobe. I was only 18. I felt violated by it’.