The Observer
25.08.19 11I was sexually abused too, reveals
lawyer working on Epstein cases
Lisa Bloom says she
fully understands how
her clients feel because
she is a survivor too,
writes Ed Helmore
Lisa Bloom , the civil rights lawyer
who has risen to prominence in the
#MeToo era and is now representing
alleged victims of Jeffrey Epstein, has
said she has “compassion and under-
standing” for her clients because she
herself suffered sexual abuse.
The experience left her feeling sui-
cidal, she revealed in an interview
with the Observer. “I blamed myself,”
Bloom said. “I thought it was my fault.
I had no idea who to talk to, or what
Epstein estate and an alleged co-con-
spirator, named in court documents
as Sue Roe. The suit alleges that
two hostesses at the Coffee Shop in
New York City’s Union Square were
approached regarding “opportuni-
ties” to “perform what they thought
were massages on [Epstein] for
cash payments”. Unbeknown to the
women, the suit says, the fi nancierwent on to “sexually touch” them
“against their will” and “force them
to watch him masturbate”.
Epstein’s death, Bloom says, meant
the women “were denied accountabil-
ity in the criminal justice system”. But
she added: “We still have an opportu-
nity in the civil system, and that is to
demand full and fair compensation
for his victims from his estate”.
She said money was in many ways
a good measure of justice: “It makes
a big difference. It’s a deterrent for
people who do bad things and it can
help victims get therapy, pay medical
bills, go back to school, pay off debt
and start a new life. It’s very mean-
ingful to them.”
Bloom has given up representing
accused men, and her practice is now
devoted to alleged victims of sexual
misconduct. She came to that deci-
sion after she found herself on the
wrong side of the Weinstein story.
While her mother was represent-
ing two of Weinstein’s alleged victims,
Bloom advised the accused in initial
stages of the case. It was an extraordi-
nary choice: Weinstein had optioned
TV rights to her book about the slain
black teenager Trayvon Martin.
Bloom initially defended her deci-
sion, saying the producer was trying to
change his ways. Now, she says : “The
problem was that Harvey Weinstein
ended up being about a great deal
more than inappropriate language.
When the fi rst woman accused him
of sexual assault I was out of there.
When the deluge came, I just felt mor-
tifi ed I’d ever associated with him.”
Some have suggested that famous
men accused of sexual miscon-
duct have lost the right to clear their
names, given the highly public cases
of Weinstein, O’Reilly, Ailes, Cosby,
Epstein and others. Bloom recognises
that men have been going through
their own awakening to the realities
of sexual harassment, but she doesn’t
believe the pendulum has swung too
far. Ultimately, she says , it is a ques-
tion of due process and going to court
and trying cases.
“I love being in that environment
where there has to be evidence and
witnesses,” she said, “not just people
swinging allegations back and forth.
The brave women who are stand-
ing up now are sending a message to
predators that their day of reckoning
is coming.”Lisa Bloom, left,
speaking to the
media in 2017,
and inset, Jeffrey
Epstein. PA‘I understand the
shame and fear, but
I also understand
how liberating it is
to tell your story’
Lisa Bloom
to say.” But at the age of 18, she went
on, she found her way to a therapist.
“I think experience as an abuse sur-
vivor has enabled me to have a lot of
compassion and understanding for
my clients,” she said. “I know every-
thing they’re going through because
I’ve gone through it myself.
“I understand the shame and fear,
but I also understand how empow-
ering and liberating it is to tell your
story. I tell my clients: this happened
to you, but it does not defi ne you.”
In recent years, Bloom and her
mother Gloria Allred, a fellow attor-
ney, have been outspoken in their
opposition to the mostly middle-aged
white men who stand accused of sex-
ual misconduct.
Both are media-savvy practition-
ers of the law of women’s rights.Prince Andrew:
‘I regret my
mistakes over
Jeffrey Epstein’
Prince Andrew has denied any knowl-
edge of criminal behaviour by his
friend Jeffrey Epstein, the fi nancier
who killed himself in a New York jail
this month while awaiting trial on sex
traffi cking charges.
Epstein was convicted in 2008 after
pleading guilty to prostitution-related
state charges and served 13 months
behind bars. The prince said it had
been a “mistake” to visit Epstein after
his release in 2010.
The Duke of York said in a state-ment yesterday: “At no stage during
the limited time I spent with him did
I see, witness or suspect any behav-
iour of the sort that subsequently led
to his arrest and conviction.
“I have said previously that it was a
mistake and an error to see him after
his release [from prison] in 2010 and
I can only reiterate my regret that I
was mistaken to think that what I
thought I knew of him was evidently
not the real person, given what we
now know.”
Video footage emerged last week
showing the prince inside Epstein’s
Manhattan mansion in December2010 – two years after the fi nancier
pleaded guilty to Florida state charges
of soliciting prostitution from a minor,
in a controversial plea deal that saw
him avoid federal charges and serve
a relatively light custodial sentence.
It was subsequently reported that a
prominent literary agent claimed to
have seen the prince at Epstein’s res-idence, getting a foot massage from a
young Russian woman.
Virginia Giuffre , who alleges she
was made to have sex with Andrew
and other friends of the fi nancier, said
in 2011 that Andrew “knows the truth”
about Epstein’s abuse.
Epstein, 66, killed himself on 10
August in jail in New York, while await-
ing trial on sex traffi cking charges.
Andrew has vehemently denied all
allegations including Giuffre’s. In
2015, a US court struck material in her
claim concerning the prince from the
record, saying it was “immaterial and
impertinent”.Amanda Holpuch
New YorkThe prince says it
was an error to see
Epstein after his
prison release.Both are veterans of the courtroom
and press-call soundbite. Both have,
in one way or another, stood against
the crimes or alleged offences of high-
profi le men such as Bill Cosby, Harvey
Weinstein, Les Moonves, Roger Ailes,
Donald Trump and Epstein.
Bloom is now representing two
alleged victims of Epstein, the billion-
aire who took his life in a jail cell ear-
lier this month while awaiting trial
on charges of sex traffi cking and con-
spiracy charges relating to the alleged
abuse of hundreds of young girls.
Speaking in New York last Friday,
Bloom said that her mission in rep-
resenting the alleged victims was “to
deliver justice that was denied when
the jail authorities allowed Epstein to
kill himself”.
Bloom has fi led a suit against the