Attorney Benjamin Brafman has spoken out to defend client Harvey Weinstein in an interview, saying, “The casting couch in Hollywood was not invented by Harvey Weinstein.”

Speaking to the Times of London, Brafman called Weinstein “one of the most interesting people I’ve ever represented.” Brafman has handled legal matters for Jay-Z, P Diddy, Michael Jackson, pharmaceutical entrepreneur Martin Shkreli, and Dominique Strauss-Kahn, the former International Monetary Fund head accused of sexual misconduct, a situation which ended his hopes for France’s presidency.

Brafman said he was “not prepared to condemn him simply because he has lived during a period of time in a manner that may not be appropriate or may be embarrassing.” He added: “If a woman decides that she needs to have sex with a Hollywood producer in order to advance her career and actually does it and finds the whole thing offensive, that’s not rape. You made a conscious decision that you’re willing to do something that is personally offensive in order to advance your career. Now, however offensive the whole saga may be on both of your parts, that’s not a crime. That’s bad in many ways, when you look at it. But that’s been the reputation of that industry [since] before I was born.”

Related Story Harvey Weinstein Stripped Of Honorary Award From Queen Elizabeth II