- "Girls" and feminist newsletter co-creators Lena Dunham and Jenni Konner are in hot water.
- A colleague and friend of theirs, Murray Miller, was accused of rape.
- Dunham and Konner released a public joint statement saying they believed the allegations were false, and that they stood by Murray.
- Their statement faced immediate backlash from feminists.
- Given the current cultural shift and outpouring of sexual misconduct reports, their choice was baffling.
- Dunham has since apologized: "We regret this decision with every fiber of our being."
- This is not the first time Dunham has misrepresented her self-touted feminism.
Lena Dunham, writer and creator of HBO's "Girls" and the co-founder of feminist newsletter Lenny Letter, is in the midst of yet another controversy regarding women's issues.
Dunham, as well as "Girls" showrunner and Lenny Letter co-founder Jenni Konner, are facing a wave of backlash after coming to the defense of Murray Miller (a writer and executive producer for "Girls") after actress Aurora Perrineau filed a police report alleging that Miller raped her.
Several key statements and allegations have been made since Friday, so we're here to breakdown the full timeline of events and what you need to know about Dunham's disappointing role in the cultural conversation right now.
Allegations of rape surface against "Girls" writer Murray Miller
Last Friday, The Wrap reported that actress Aurora Perrineau had filed a police report with the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department. In the report, which included the results of a polygraph test Perrineau had taken, the actress accused Murray Miller of raping her in 2012. She was 17 years old, while Miller would have been 35 years old at the time.
According to Perrineau, she was out drinking with friends and Murray when they gave him a ride to his house and all went inside.
"At some point, I woke up in Murray's bed naked," Perrineau's statement to the LA County Sheriff's department said. "He was on top of me having sexual intercourse with me. At no time did I consent to any sexual contact with Murray [Miller]."
Miller's attorney Matthew Walerstein provided a statement to The Wrap, saying he "categorically and vehemently denies Ms. Perrineau's outrageous claims."
Here's Walerstein's full statement:
After being contacted several weeks ago by lawyers who — on Ms. Perrineau's behalf — sought substantial monetary damages from him, Mr. Miller's legal team gathered overwhelming evidence directly contradicting these false and offensive claims. Only after her demands for money were rebuffed did Ms. Perrineau go to the police. Mr. Miller looks forward to sharing all evidence and information with any and all authorities seeking the truth in this matter.
Dunham and Konner release a statement defending Miller
On Friday night, Dunham and Konner sent a joint statement to The Hollywood Reporter saying, "We stand by Murray."
This statement comes during a tumultuous period of cultural change, triggered by the reports from more than 50 women accusing Hollywood producer Harvey Weinstein of sexual harassment or assault. In the wake of these allegations, many other powerful figures have been accused of sexual misconduct.
Dunham and Konner acknowledged this wave of cultural change while also saying their "insider knowledge" led them to believe Perrineau's accusation was wrong.
"While our first instinct is to listen to every woman's story, our insider knowledge of Murray's situation makes us confident that sadly this accusation is one of the 3% of assault cases that are misreported every year," their statement read.
Here's the statement in full:
During the windfall of deeply necessary accusations over the last few months in Hollywood, we have been thrilled to see so many women's voices heard and dark experiences in this industry justified. It's a hugely important time of change and, like every feminist in Hollywood and beyond, we celebrate.
But during every time of change there are also incidences of the culture, in its enthusiasm and zeal, taking down the wrong targets. We believe, having worked closely with him for more than half a decade, that this is the case with Murray Miller. While our first instinct is to listen to every woman's story, our insider knowledge of Murray's situation makes us confident that sadly this accusation is one of the 3% of assault cases that are misreported every year.
It is a true shame to add to that number, as outside of Hollywood women still struggle to be believed. We stand by Murray and this is all we'll be saying about this issue.
In addition to the statement, Dunham tweeted vaguely about her beliefs, seemingly alluding to her choice to publicly support Murray.
—💎 Lena Dunham 💎 (@lenadunham) November 17, 2017"I believe in a lot of things but the first tenet of my politics is to hold up the people who have held me up, who have filled my world with love," Dunham wrote.
People were furious over Dunham and Konner's choice
Dunham has been a controversial figure for several years, especially in the eyes of those who think her feminist agenda fails to include and address the discrimination faced by women of color. Given her choice to express public disbelief of Perrineau, a black woman, the statement struck a nerve.
—Tressie Mc (@tressiemcphd) November 18, 2017—Chief Blocka (@FeministaJones) November 18, 2017—Heather Matarazzo (@HeatherMatarazz) November 20, 2017—Courtney Enlow (@courtenlow) November 18, 2017—Jamilah Lemieux (@JamilahLemieux) November 18, 2017People also pointed out that Dunham's deliberate mention of holding up the people who "filled [her] world with love" is a strange argument to make. It's possible for someone to still hurt another person even if they provide good experiences to a separate individual.
—bobby shawarma (@hummusandpizza) November 18, 2017—Ijeoma Oluo (@IjeomaOluo) November 18, 2017—roxane gay (@rgay) November 18, 2017Dunham apologizes in new statement
On Saturday night, Dunham tweeted a new statement regarding Murray and her previous words on the accusation. The statement goes between the "we" and "I" point of view, meaning it might have also been a joint work with Konner.
Konner herself has not tweeted since Friday. Her representative didn't immediately respond to INSIDER's request for comment.
"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," Dunham wrote. "We regret this decision with every fiber of our being."
—💎 Lena Dunham 💎 (@lenadunham) November 19, 2017Here's the full apology:
As feminists, we live and die by our politics, and believing women is the first choice we make every single day when we wake up. Therefore I never though I would issue a statement publicly supporting someone accused of sexual assault, but 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. We have been given the gift of powerful voices and by speaking out we were putting our thumb n the scale and it was wrong. We regret this decision with every fiber of our being.
Every woman who comes forward deserves to be heard, fully and completely, and our relationship to the accused should not be a part of the calculation anyone makes when examining her case.
Every person and every feminist should be required to hear her. Under patriarchy, "I believe you" is essential. Until we are all believed, none of us will be believed. We apologize to any women who have been disappointed.
An interesting aspect of Dunham's apology is that it seems to center most on her perceived concern that her statement might affect the legal proceedings of Perrineau's case — not the overall issues many people had with her choice to defend Murray.
The cycle of Lena Dunham's problematic statements
Even after Dunham's new statement, people pointed out that this is a familiar cycle with the writer. In the past, Dunham has apologized following numerous controversies, including the time she said on her podcast that she wished she had an abortion.
There was also an incident in 2016 where Dunham recounted a story from the Met Gala in which she assumed that football star Odell Beckham Jr. was not attracted to her because she was wearing a tuxedo.
—Brittany Packnett (@MsPackyetti) November 18, 2017—Evette Dionne 🤔 (@freeblackgirl) November 19, 2017—KITTENS (@iamKITTENS) November 19, 2017A writer quits Dunham's newsletter, citing issues of racism
On Saturday morning, Lenny Letter contributor Zinzi Clemmons announced she was leaving the publication, citing problematic issues of racism she had experienced from Dunham's circle of friends.
—zinziclemmons (@zinziclemmons) November 19, 2017"It is time for women of color — black women in particular — to divest from Lena Dunham," Clemmons wrote on Twitter. She shared screencaps of a Facebook post she had shared that same morning.
In the Facebook post, after explaining that she and Dunahm "ran in the same circles in college," Clemmons continues to provide examples of why she'd avoided people like Dunham "because of their well-known racism."
"I'd call their strain 'hipster racism,' which typically uses sarcasm as a cover," Clemmons wrote. "And in the end, it looks a lot like gaslighting. 'It's just a joke. Why are you overreacting?' is a common response to these kinds of statements."
Clemmons said one girl "in Lena's circle" was known to use the N-word in conversation. The writer also says a similar incident happened in which a friend of hers was "victimized in almost the exact same way" as Perrineau by "someone in Lena's circle."
You can read Clemmons' full statement below:
"Let's hold Lena accountable," Clemmons concluded. "And to me that means sacrificing some comfort and a little bit of cash, in this moment."
Representatives for Dunham didn't immediately respond to INSIDER's request for comment on Clemmons' statements.
Dunham's use of her platform continues to be disappointing
As this most recent controversy highlights, Dunham's continued missteps when it comes to being a true feminist are endlessly frustrating. In this specific case, her presumption that people needed to hear a public defense of Murray is baffling.
Yes, our justice system says accused rapists or criminals are innocent until proven guilty. But supporting accusers does not mean you're doling out a public verdict on the accused — it simply means you're listening.
Dunham may have "insider knowledge" of the accusations and circumstances surrounding Perrineau's alleged assault, but if so, perhaps she should have taken her statements to the LA County Sheriff's department — not Twitter or the media. If Murray is as innocent as Dunham and Konner seem to believe, they should have left it to the legal proceedings to determine that.
But judicial process aside, the currently public conversation over sexual assault, harassment, and misconduct is still a building wave. We are in the middle of a possibly historical turning point when it comes to addressing the issues of misogyny and discrimination faced by women — but we have far to go.
Many of the voices publicly speaking out and being heard are — for the most part — powerful, white, cis-gendered women. The same level of respect and support should be leveled at the voices of LGBTQ people and women of color.
This issue is larger than Dunham or her friend facing accusations, and she shouldn't need reminding of that, especially given her self-touted feminist agenda. We all need to do better, starting with the most vocal white feminists among us.
If you are a victim of sexual assault, you can visit RAINN or call its hotline at 1-800-656-4673 to receive confidential support from a trained staff member.
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