Lisa Bloom (née Bray; born September 20, 1961) is an American civil rights attorney known for representing women whose sexual harassment claims precipitated the firing of Bill O'Reilly from Fox News and for advising Harvey Weinstein amid sexual abuse allegations.
Bloom founded and owns a twelve-attorney civil rights law firm, The Bloom Firm, and has represented clients including Kathy Griffin and Mischa Barton. Bloom was also the anchor of Lisa Bloom: Open Court (formerly Bloom and Politan: Open Court), a two-hour live legal news program on truTV's In Session, from 2006 to 2009. The Weinstein Company and Jay-Z plan to adapt Bloom's most recent book, SUSPICION NATION: The Inside Story of the Trayvon Martin Injustice and Why We Continue to Repeat It, into a six-part documentary series.
Bloom is the only child of civil rights attorney Gloria Allred and Peyton Huddleston Bray, Jr.
Video Lisa Bloom
Early life and education
Bloom was born Lisa Bray, the daughter of Gloria Bloom (later Allred) and Peyton Huddleston Bray, Jr. Her parents' marriage was short-livedâ€"they had married and divorced while in college. Peyton, who suffered from bipolar disorder, later committed suicide, and Bloom subsequently took her mother's maiden name. When Bloom was 7, her mother remarried to William C. Allred. Bloom received a bachelor's degree from UCLA, where she graduated Phi Beta Kappa and was National College Debate Champion. Bloom later earned a Doctor of Jurisprudence degree from Yale Law School.
Maps Lisa Bloom
Career
Bloom is the founder and managing partner of The Bloom Firm, a general-practice law firm that handles family, civil and criminal matters. She is licensed to practice law in both New York and California. Bloom is a television legal analyst on CBS News, CNN, HLN and MSNBC, and has appeared on The Early Show, The Insider, Dr. Phil, Dr. Drew, The Situation Room, Reliable Sources, The Joy Behar Show, Issues with Jane Velez-Mitchell, and The Stephanie Miller Show.
Early career
In 1995 Bloom joined her mother to unsuccessfully sue the Boy Scouts of America for sex discrimination on behalf of Katrina Yeaw, a girl who wanted to join the organization. Bloom also filed a child sexual abuse suit against the Roman Catholic Church and sued the LAPD.
Later career
Bloom represented model and actress Janice Dickinson in her defamation case against comedian Bill Cosby, as well as model and actress Mischa Barton in her revenge porn case. Model Blac Chyna later hired Bloom to obtain a temporary restraining order against socialite Rob Kardashian, with whom Chyna shares a daughter, Dream.
Bill O'Reilly sexual harassment allegations
In 2017 Bloom represented three women accusing then-Fox News anchor Bill O’Reilly of sexual harassment. Jehmu Greene, a television commentator who had appeared on Fox News, also approached Bloom with sexual harassment allegations against O'Reilly, although she ultimately declined Bloom's services. One of Bloom's clients, Wendy Walsh, filed the complaint that caused Fox News' parent company 21st Century Fox to initiate an investigation that led to O'Reilly's dismissal and the end of his eponymous program.
Harvey Weinstein and Roy Price sexual misconduct allegations
Bloom was a focus of significant media attention following allegations of serial sexual harassment by film mogul Harvey Weinstein. Bloom, in an October 2017 report in The New York Times, acknowledged advising Weinstein on power dynamics and harassment, calling him "an old dinosaur learning new ways" and asserting that "he denies many of the accusations as patently false." Bloom's advising role, which she had held since the Fall of 2016, was pilloried in the media for its dissonance with Bloom's prior representation of sexual assault victims, with some calling her book adaptation deal with The Weinstein Company, signed during Weinstein's tenure as co-chairman, a conflict of interest.
On October 7, 2017, two days after the initial reports and amid mounting criticism, Bloom stepped down from the team advising Weinstein after reported friction with members of The Weinstein Company's board. Bloom, according to emails purportedly obtained by The New York Times, had proposed promulgating "photos of several of the accusers in very friendly poses with Harvey after his alleged misconduct." Bloom denied plotting to undermine the accusers; however, later reporting from The Daily Beast indicated that Bloom had offered journalist Ronan Farrow opposition research on one of Weinstein's accusers, Rose McGowan, during his reporting on the Weinstein allegations.
Shortly following her resignation from Weinstein's team, Bloom fell victim to an email prankster masquerading as Weinstein. Bloom emailed the prankster that "[t]he new round of far more serious allegations were [sic] not made known to me," specifically calling out Weinstein's alleged sexual assault. Variety later reported that Bloom "was only aware of accusations of verbal remarks, behaviors, and temper tantrums" when she began advising Weinstein, and was unaware of more serious allegations of rape and sexual assault. Bloom later apologized for her role advising Weinstein and characterized it as "a colossal mistake."
Bloom also represented former Amazon Studios president Roy Price amid sexual harassment allegations, but said her representation of Price concluded before Isa Hackett, Price's accuser, "went public." The Daily Beast reported that Bloom, while representing Price, had attempted to discredit Kim Masters, The Hollywood Reporter's editor at large, to media outlets considering publishing Masters' report on the allegations against Price. Bloom had allegedly accused Masters of a conflict of interest for badgering Price to advertise on her KCRW show, a charge Masters denied.
Kathy Griffin controversy
Following a controversial 2017 photo shoot in which comedienne Kathy Griffin clenched a severed and bloodied head resembling President Donald Trump, Bloom held a joint press conference with Griffin, her client, to address the controversy. Their appearance was widely panned in the media for its self-victimization and lack of focus.
Amid the fallout over Bloom's role advising Harvey Weinstein, Griffin posted a Facebook video denouncing Bloom and her husband, Braden Pollock, for "exacerbat[ing] [her] personal situation." Griffin later tweeted asking Bloom to stop calling her and denounced Bloom for "fame-whoring," a criticism of Bloom's proposal for a joint media tour following their joint press conference. Bloom also, according to Griffin, charged exorbitant legal fees, which Griffin estimated amounted to $40,000 for two days' representation, including by defense attorney Dmitry Gorin, whom Bloom had allegedly hired without Griffin's consent. In response to Griffin's comments, Bloom claimed she "had no idea there was a problem" and released a statement that criticized Griffin for speaking extemporaneously at the press conference but nevertheless wished her well.
In response to Griffin, another former Bloom client, Tamara Holder, and Jehmu Greene, who had considered hiring Bloom, came forward with their own criticisms. Bloom, whom Holder had retained after accusing Fox News Latino Vice President Francisco Cortes of sexual assault, proposed an initial retainer agreement that awarded Bloom 40 percent of any settlement, as well as a $10,000 retainer fee and reimbursement for any relevant hotel and travel expenses. Although Holder ultimately negotiated a more favorable contract, she criticized Bloom for thousands of dollars in extraneous expenses and for allegedly pushing Holder to accept a gag order in her settlement with Fox News. For her part, Greene called Bloom "deceptive" for presenting her with a contract for media representation after a meeting focused primarily on legal services. Bloom responded to the allegations from Holder and Greene by contending that "the vast majority of [her] clients are delighted with [her] work."
Personal life
Bloom married her current husband, Braden Pollock, on December 5, 2014. Pollock is the founder of Legal Brand Marketing and now works as The Bloom Firm's firm manager. Bloom has two adult children, Sarah and Sam, and lives with her husband, foster son and rescue dogs in Los Angeles. An animal lover and a vegetarian since 16, Bloom has been vegan since 2009. She identifies as Jewish.
Books
Bloom has written three books, including Think: Straight Talk for Women to Stay Smart in a Dumbed-Down World, from 2011, and Swagger: 10 Urgent Rules for Raising Boys in an Era of Failing Schools, Mass Joblessness, and Thug Culture, from 2012. The Weinstein Company and Jay-Z are currently adapting Bloom's 2014 book, Suspicion Nation: The Inside Story of the Trayvon Martin Injustice and Why We Continue to Repeat It, into a six-part documentary series.
References
External links
- Lisa Bloom on IMDb
- Lisa Bloom's Official Website
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