Girls showrunner and star Lena Dunham apologises a lot. She recently expressed her sorrow for defending Girls co-writer and executive producer Murray Miller against allegations of rape. She has had to apologise for her public statements in the past. In fact, she even wrote an essay on LinkedIn in 2016, called Sorry, Not Sorry: My Apology Addiction.
Soon after Dunham tweeted her apology on November 19, an user pointed out her history of expressing regret.
This led to Dunham’s apology getting meme status. User @lenadunhampols (Lena Dunham Apologizes) began tweeting parody apologies in regard to ludicrous contexts of the writer and actress doing or saying something politically incorrect. Sample this: “Lena Dunham Apologises For News Reports She Praised European Colonization At A Black Lives Matter Rally.” Here are a few more.
Actress Aurora Perrineau filed a police complaint against Miller for allegedly raping her in 2012, according to The Wrap. She was 17 years old at the time. Within hours, Girls showrunners Dunham and Jenni Konner, in a statement, to The Hollywood Reporter, defended 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 percent of assault cases that are misreported every year,” the statement said. “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.”
Dunham immediately received criticism for her statement. Writer Zinzi Clemmons announced that she would not be writing for Denham’s newsletter, Lenny’s Letter, and encourage other women of colour to do the same.
Dunham tweeted an apology on November 19. She wrote that in her naivete, she considered sharing her perspective on her friend Miller’s situation, but she later realised that it was wrong.
“We have been given the gift of powerful voices and by speaking out we were putting out thumb on the scale and it was wrong. We regret this decision with every fiber of our being,” she wrote.
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