Anna Daniels
Meghan McCain, daughter of the late Sen. John McCain and the most conservative co-host on ABC’s The View, is no stranger to controversy. Recently, the political commentator stirred up some surprise on Twitter when she expressed her support for Georgina Chapman, Harvey Weinstein’s ex-wife.
In particular, McCain urged the media not to blame Chapman or her high-end fashion brand, Marchesa, which Chapman co-founded with her fellow designer Keren Craig in 2004, for Weinstein’s alleged wrongdoing. She also opened up about why she chose to wear a Marchesa dress at her own 2017 wedding despite the Weinstein scandal.
McCain tweeted her support for Weinstein’s ex-wife in advance of his upcoming trial
Weinstein’s trial for a variety of sexual assault and harassment allegations began on Jan. 6. Chapman, who divorced the Hollywood producer in 2017 after the news of the allegations broke, has since distanced herself from her ex-husband as her label suffered from the backlash.
On Jan. 4, McCain quote tweeted an article from The Daily Beast that discussed Chapman’s issues with her brand after divorcing Weinstein. “Do not expect to see Georgina Chapman, Harvey Weinstein’s ex-wife, at his trial,” The Daily Beast’s tweet read. “The survival of her fashion label Marchesa depends on the vital support of female customers.”
McCain appears to be one of those supportive customers herself. The View co-host tweeted in support of Chapman and her brand, “I had a rushed wedding that was planned in a month. I went to EVERY high end label and couldn’t find one thing that fit me, let alone made me feel beautiful. [Keren] Craig was a saint in our fittings, helped me & obviously made a beautiful dress. Don’t blame Marchesa for mens sins.”
The ‘View’ co-host chose to wear a Marchesa wedding dress in her rushed wedding to Ben Domenech
McCain has repeatedly spoken out against Weinstein, but she still chose to wear a Marchesa dress at her wedding to Ben Domenech, publisher of the conservative outlet The Federalist, in 2017. The wedding was moved up because of her ailing father’s declining health due to glioblastoma, an aggressive form of brain cancer. Weinstein’s allegations broke just a month before the nuptials.
The View co-host told People after her wedding that her decision to go with her original light rose, beaded, mermaid-style, and vintage-inspired Marchesa dress was a conscious one, in spite of the allegations.
“The scandal erupted and everybody was like, are you going to keep the dress? And I was like, ‘Why should the two women designers be punished for a man’s disgusting behavior?’” McCain explained. “I just didn’t wanna feel like the people who had worked there and make their livelihood should be punished as well.”
Her comments echoed her earlier remarks about differences in her marriage
This wasn’t the first time that McCain has suggested married (or formerly married) people should not be held accountable for what their spouses do or say.
When Sen. Kamala Harris was still in the running for the 2020 U.S. presidential nomination, Domenech caused controversy by selling “Kamala is a Cop” t-shirts on his website. Critics immediately began to tag McCain and ask her to publicly denounce Domenech’s actions.
But McCain replied that she and her husband frequently disagreed. In Jun. 2019, she tweeted, “Do you hold Ben accountable for everything I say on @TheView? I know this is a hard concept for some but we are not the same person, believe different things and love and respect each other’s differences. This is why I have no patience or place with third wave modern feminism.”
Fans had mostly negative reactions to McCain’s support for Chapman
Many The View fans called McCain out for what they believed was a privileged and self-centered remark on her part.
In particular, several critics pointed out that the luxury brand Marchesa was supported in many ways by Weinstein. He reportedly pushed actors to wear clothing from his ex-wife’s label in his films. “He did use his leverage to get traction for the brand by forcing women in his movies to wear Marchesa. It is not clean by any means,” one critic wrote on Twitter in response to McCain.
Others believed Chapman was complicit in Weinstein’s alleged crimes, having been married to him for 10 years. One Twitter user wrote to the View co-host, “It’s possible, even probable that [Chapman] knew and covered for him. She’s an enabler. And that’s wrong.”
Written by: Cheat
