Why They All Want Gloria Allred

Gloria Allred believes there’s an epidemic of sexual harassment and discrimination against women in companies across America. “Grabbing women by the butt. Putting their hand down their shirt. Groping their breasts,” she says over dinner one night in New York, describing the cases she hears about all the time between bites of branzino, no butter. Allred’s compact, ageless body is sheathed in a melon-colored jacket that pops off a TV screen, and she barely blinks when she speaks. “Putting their hand up into their private, genital area. And grabbing,” she continues. “Forcing them to watch pornography. Taking them on business trips and making sure they come into their bedroom. Making promises that are never kept. It is truly revolting.”

Allred, 71, is a partner at the Los Angeles law firm Allred, Maroko & Goldberg and a self-described avenger for women’s rights. There’s no one term that captures exactly what she does: Part activist lawyer, part publicist, she’s an unavoidable presence on cable TV who provides a steady stream of material to gossip websites such as TMZ.com and Radar Online. There are few people whose voice on the other end of a phone line is as likely to strike terror into the heart of a politician or a general counsel. What drives her, she says, is the ongoing “tidal wave” of abuse committed by men in positions of power. That and attention, which Allred seeks out like a starving person looking for food.