Writer Calls On Women Of Color 'To Divest From Lena Dunham' After Controversy

Lena Dunham , the creator and star of HBOs Girls, generated widespread controversy last week after issuing and then walking back a statement defending Murray Miller, a writer and producer on the show whom actress Aurora Perrineau said raped her when she was 17 and he was in his 30s.

In response, author Zinzi Clemmons, a contributor to Dunhams online newsletter Lenny Letter, announced Saturday on Facebook that she would no longer write for the publication and urged women of color to divest from Lena Dunham.

Clemmons offered examples of Dunhams behavior and connections during college as further explanation for her decision, writing that she used to avoid Dunham and her circle of friends in college because of their well-known racism.

My statement on why I will no longer write for @lennyletter, and the behavior I witnessed firsthand from @lenadunham's friends.

It is time for women of color--black women in particular--to divest from Lena Dunham. pic.twitter.com/dxOWCLhTpA

zinziclemmons (@zinziclemmons) November 19, 2017","type":"rich","meta":{"author":"zinziclemmons","author_url":"https://twitter.com/zinziclemmons","cache_age":86400,"description":"My statement on why I will no longer write for @lennyletter, and the behavior I witnessed firsthand from @lenadunham's friends.It is time for women of color--black women in particular--to divest from Lena Dunham. pic.twitter.com/dxOWCLhTpA zinziclemmons (@zinziclemmons) November 19, 2017\n\n","provider_name":"Twitter","title":"zinziclemmons on 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My statement on why I will no longer write for @lennyletter , and the behavior I witnessed firsthand from @lenadunham 's friends.

It is time for women of color--black women in particular--to divest from Lena Dunham. pic.twitter.com/dxOWCLhTpA
zinziclemmons (@zinziclemmons) November 19, 2017

For all you writers who are outraged about what she did, I encourage you to do the same. Especially women of color. She cannot have our words if she cannot respect us, Clemmons wrote in the post that she later shared on Twitter.

Clemmons novel, What We Lose, was recently excerpted in the publication , which Dunham founded in 2015 with Girls showrunner Jenni Konner to empower women and showcase work from female writers.

In her post , Clemmons said that she had known Dunham, as well as Girls co-star Jemima Kirke, since they attended college. The author said Dunhams friends were known for their hipster racism, which typically uses sarcasm as a cover, excusing racist statements as just a joke.

Most of these acquaintances were like Lenawealthy, with parents who are influential in the art world, she wrote. They had a lot of power and seemed to get off on simultaneously wielding it and denying it.

A representative for Dunham did not immediately return a request for comment.

When Perrineau came forward with her story on Friday, Dunham and Konner defended Miller.

While our first instinct is to listen to every womans story, our insider knowledge of Murrays situation makes us confident that sadly this accusation is one of the 3 percent of assault cases that are misreported every year, they wrote in a statement. 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 well be saying about this issue.

After widespread condemnation, Dunham apologized later on Friday.

I naively believed it was important to share my perspective on my friends 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, she wrote. We apologize to any women who have been disappointed.

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Clemmons tweeted that the statement was insufficient.

You should be apologizing to @AuroraPerrineau. This isnt an apology, this is a half-assed attempt to cover your ass. GTFOH https://t.co/2W5qegwqUU

zinziclemmons (@zinziclemmons) November 19, 2017","type":"rich","meta":{"author":"zinziclemmons","author_url":"https://twitter.com/zinziclemmons","cache_age":86400,"description":"You should be apologizing to @AuroraPerrineau. This isnt an apology, this is a half-assed attempt to cover your ass. GTFOH https://t.co/2W5qegwqUU zinziclemmons (@zinziclemmons) November 19, 2017\n\n","provider_name":"Twitter","title":"zinziclemmons on 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You should be apologizing to @AuroraPerrineau . This isnt an apology, this is a half-assed attempt to cover your ass. GTFOH https://t.co/2W5qegwqUU
zinziclemmons (@zinziclemmons) November 19, 2017

Read Clemmons full post here .

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