Twitter Stunned by Comment from Weinstein Lawyer: He ‘Did Not Invent the Casting Couch’

"Weinstein did not invent the casting couch in Hollywood, to the extent that there is bad behavior in that industry… Bad behavior is not on trial in this case. It is only if you intentionally committed a criminal act & Weinstein vigorously denies that," Weinstein's lawyer says pic.twitter.com/OrWie5sP5z

— CBS News (@CBSNews) May 25, 2018

Harvey Weinstein was arraigned by the police today, and earlier this morning, his lawyer made a genuinely baffling comment about his client’s behavior.

Just to review, Weinstein has been charged with rape, as multiple women over the past few months have come forward revealing their horrific experiences with the longtime producer.

So keep that in mind as you watch Weinstein’s lawyer say this (video above, via CBS):

“My job is not to defend behavior. My job is to defend something that is criminal behavior… Mr. Weinstein did not invent the casting couch in Hollywood, and to the extent that there is bad behavior in that industry, that is not what this is about. Bad behavior is not on trial in this case. It’s only if you intentionally committed a criminal act and Mr. Weinstein vigorously denies that.”

That line about the casting couch stunned a lot of people:

I'm going to say that if your defense is the "casting couch," you're in big fucking trouble. https://t.co/QJmTwa4856 pic.twitter.com/A4mUL8Xs04

— Kate Aurthur (@KateAurthur) May 25, 2018

Harvey Weinstein’s lawyer: “Mr. Weinstein did not invent the casting couch in Hollywood.” ffs…

— Kimberly Atkins (@KimberlyEAtkins) May 25, 2018

“Look, your honor, my client didn’t _invent_ murder.” https://t.co/4o3ovaN8Ah

— The Mary Sue (@TheMarySue) May 25, 2018

yikes. good luck with that defense. https://t.co/eDLYhsURYP

— T. Becket Adams (@BecketAdams) May 25, 2018

If I’ve learned anything in the last year it’s that we have a swath of absolutely godawful attorneys running rampant. https://t.co/krfNLhkoR8

— Jane Coaston (@cjane87) May 25, 2018

Popular culture has really given me an unfairly high expectation of rich people not hiring the dumbest fucking lawyershttps://t.co/7xiUHCpgLi

— Mike Drucker (@MikeDrucker) May 25, 2018

The “but he didn’t do it first” defense from a lawyer is not what I expected, but whatever floats your boat https://t.co/vB0Tp8NCRm

— Caleb Hull (@CalebJHull) May 25, 2018

[image via screengrab]

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Follow Josh Feldman on Twitter: @feldmaniac