Lenny writer quits over Lena Dunham rape comments and calls on women of colour to follow suit
Zinzi Clemmons accuses Dunham of 'hipster racism'
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Your support makes all the difference.An author has announced she will stop writing for Lena Dunham’s weekly feminist newsletter and called on women of colour to follow her lead.
Zinzi Clemmons, who has earned widespread critical acclaim for her debut book What We Lose, argued it was time for women of colour to wholly disassociate themselves from the Girls creator and star.
Clemmons said she moved in the same circles as Dunham while at university and accused the actor - who refers to herself as a feminist - of “hipster racism”.
Clemmons criticised Dunham’s decision to defend a Girls writer and producer accused of rape by actor Aurora Perrineau. Murray Miller, whose production credits include King of the Hill and American Dad, is accused of assaulting Perrineau in 2012 when she was 17. Miller has “categorically and vehemently” denied the claim levied against him.
Girls showrunners Dunham and Jenni Konner - Miller's former bosses - released a statement after the allegations emerged where they noted the importance of women speaking out over sexual assault yet relegated Perrineau's claim to “the three per cent of assault cases that are misreported every year”.
“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 three per cent of assault cases that are misreported every year,” they said in a joint 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 we’ll be saying about this issue.”
The statement, which defended a white former colleague against the accusation of a woman of colour, sparked outrage because it is at direct loggerheads with Dunham’s self-avowed feminist status. It also contradicts previous comments she has made about the importance of believing women’s sexual assault allegations. “Things women do lie about: what they ate for lunch. Things women don’t lie about: rape,” she wrote on Twitter in August.
Dunham has since apologised for the statement and said “every woman who comes forward deserves to be heard, fully and completely”.
But Clemmons has nevertheless called on women to boycott Dunham’s Lenny Letter and argued the actor “betrayed” the women who work for the popular online feminist newsletter.
“It is time for women of colour - black women in particular - to divest from Lena Dunham,” she said in a lengthy statement on Twitter and Facebook.
She added: “As a result of Lena Dunham's statements, I have decided that I will no longer write for Lenny Letter. For all you writers who are outraged about what she did, I encourage you to do the same. Especially women of colour. She cannot have our words if she cannot respect us. To eliminate any doubt, I know exactly who Lena Dunham is - who she was before she was famous - and have for years.”
Clemmons explained she was Dunham’s contemporary and was in the same year as Jemima Kirke, who starred in Girls alongside Dunham, at Brown University.
"I avoided those people like the plague because of their well-known racism. I'd call their strain 'hipster racism', which typically uses sarcasm as a cover,” she said.
"In Lena's circle, there was a girl who was known to use the N word in conversation in order to be provocative, and if she was ever called on it, she would say 'it's just a joke'," she continued. "I was often in the same room with her, but I never spoke to her, only watched her from afar in anxiety and horror."
Clemmons condemned Dunham’s decision to defend Perrineau’s alleged abuser and claimed a friend suffered abuse from someone else in Dunham’s social circle.
“I had one reservation in this decision, and that is that there are many incredible women who work for Lenny, two of whom have supported my work with such selfless care,” Clemmons concluded her post. “I would apologise to them for this decision, but I'm not doing that anymore. Their boss betrayed them by her actions, and it was wrong for her to make them choose between their authors and supporting their boss. They deserve so much better.”
“Let's hold Lena accountable, and to me that means sacrificing some comfort and a little bit of cash, in this moment.”
Other women have followed Clemmons’ lead and said they will be boycotting the Lenny Letter.
“The fact that she put out that statement feels like a stab in the chest because of the intimate stories about sexual violence that I’ve read. I stand in solidarity with you and will be unsubscribing today thank you for your words,” said one Twitter user.
“Firstly thank you for sharing a piece of yourself with us, secondly I commend you for sticking for what you believe in. I fully support your decision,” said another.
“Wow. I admire your conviction. I think all women should boycott Lena Dunham and her faux activism,” added another.
Dunham, who has been accused of perpetuating a brand of “white feminism”, released an apology for her initial defence of Miller – the writer on her show who was accused of rape.
“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,” she said on Sunday.
“Therefore I never thought 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 regret this decision with every fibre of our being.”
She continued: “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. 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 apologise to any women who have been disappointed.”
Matthew Walerstein, a lawyer for Miller, said the writer “categorically and vehemently” denied the allegation against him and that Miller’s legal team had “gathered overwhelming evidence directly contradicting these false and offensive claims”.
He added: “Mr Miller looks forward to sharing all evidence and information with any and all authorities seeking the truth in this matter.”
The Independent contacted a representative of Dunham for comment.