Weinstein’s attorney says his ‘whole life has been ruined’: ‘He never gets to be Harvey Weinstein ever again’

An attorney representing disgraced movie mogul Harvey Weinstein in a sexual assault case set to go to trial next year said in a recent interview that the former producer’s “whole life has been ruined” after more than 70 women in recent years accused him of sexual misconduct, including harassment and rape.

In an interview with CBS News’s Gayle King that was released on Tuesday, attorney Donna Rotunno said that she believes that no matter the outcome of the pending criminal case against Weinstein, in which two woman accused him of sexual assault, he “will pay the biggest price there is.”

{mosads}“Even if he wins, Gayle,” Rotunno said. “His whole life has been ruined, toppled, damaged. And whether it’s by his own doing or others’, that’s the fact. And the fact is that no matter what we do, and we can walk out of that courtroom with a not guilty and walk him out onto those courtroom steps, and he never gets to be Harvey Weinstein ever again.”

Rotunno was also asked about her thoughts on the “Me Too” movement, which was sparked in 2017 shortly after droves of women — including Gwyneth Paltrow, Salma Hayek, Ashley Judd and Lupita Nyong’o — brought allegations of sexual assault against Weinstein, all of which he has denied.

“I’ve heard you say that you’re not really a — is it ‘believer’ or ‘supporter’ of the Me Too movement?” King asked.

“Yeah, it’s more of a supporter,” Rotunno replied. “I think in many ways, there are good things about Me Too — and I’ve said this — but what bothers me about Me Too … it allows the court of public opinion to take over the narrative.”

“And when you can’t come out and then either correct or challenge that narrative, it puts you in a position where you’re stripped of your rights,” she continued. 

Rotunno expressed confidence that Weinstein would be cleared of wrongdoing when asked about her defense strategy. 

“Well, the strategy in defending him, of course, is just evaluating the case for what it is, and determining whether or not these allegations are things that we can refute,” she said. “And in the criminal case, there are two charged victims and in both cases I feel strongly about the fact that we have evidence that is favorable to us and evidence that I think will exonerate him.” 

“We’re focusing on your two criminal cases, but you do seem to minimize all of the other charges and allegations about Harvey Weinstein,” King later said.

“It’s not minimizing it. But for my purposes in this case, it’s not where I have to put my time and attention. It’s really about making sure those issues don’t cloud our ability to pick a fair jury,” Rotunno responded.

“I think that when you look at the criminal case, I don’t think that that’s the case. I’m not here to say that he was not guilty of committing sins,” she said. “ I’m not here to say that at all.”

“But there’s a difference between sins and crimes, and I don’t think he’s a rapist. I don’t believe he’s a rapist.”