Lena Dunham is apologizing yet again for another offensive statement or comment.
The creator and star of HBO’s Girls has apologized for having weighed in on a sexual assault case involving a Black actress and series writer Murray Miller.
Actress Aurora Perrineau — daughter of actor Harold Perrineau — went to police to accuse Miller of committing sexual assault in 2012. Perrineau reported the alleged rape to the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department last week, according to The Wrap.
Dunham and her executive producer, Jenni Konner received, major backlash after releasing a statement Friday defending Miller, who “categorically and vehemently” denies the claims. Their statement praised women in Hollywood for speaking out against sexual assault and misconduct, but casted doubt of Perrineau’s claims:
“Insider knowledge of Murray’s situation makes us confident that sadly this accusation is one of the 3 percent of assault cases that are misreported every year.”
The statement concluded: “We stand by Murray and this is all we’ll be saying about this issue.”
The two women have been called out for the hypocrisy of their statement, and for daring to cast doubt on a victim’s testimony. Others also pointed out that Dunham, as can be the case with White feminists, was quick to push back against the claims from a Black woman.
Dunham’s discrediting of Perrineau is an example of how women of color who have made accusations of sexual assault are often contradicted and never believed (Lupita Nyong’o for example, was the only one of 79 actress that Harvey Weinstein contradicted when she came forward with her story of sexual misconduct).
Dunham took to Twitter on Saturday evening to apologize for the original statement:
“I naively believed it was important to share my perspective on my friend’s situation as it has transpired behind the scenes over the last few months. I now understand that it was absolutely the wrong time to come forward with such a statement and I am so sorry.”
Dunham continued: “We have been given the gift of powerful voices and by speaking out we were putting our thumb on the scale and it was wrong. We regret this decision with every fiber to our being.“
The message concluded: “Every woman who comes forward deserves to be heard, fully and completely, and our relationship to the accused should not be part of the calculation anyone makes when examining her case. … We apologize to any woman who have been disappointed.”
But many have already been turned off by the original statement, including Zinzi Clemmons, a frequent contributor to Dunham and Konner’s newsletter, Lenny Letter.
“It is time for women of color–black women in particular–to divest from Lena Dunham,” Clemmons writes.
Lena Dunham and Jenni Konner have spent so much time boasting about their feminist political commitments. Yet, all of their feminist righteousness goes out of the window as soon as their friend is accused. White women are an absolute trip. https://t.co/gRk10NHlt9
Mainstream feminism is at play yet again, reminding us why #SolidarityIsForWhiteWomen. Lena Dunham chose to believe the accused over a Black victim, yet again proving that her popular brand of feminism excludes women of color.
