Lena Dunham apologises to victims of child abuse: 'If the situations described in my book are painful, I am sorry'

Lena Dunham has released an official statement after she was accused by a right-wing publication of sexually assaulting her little sister.

“I am dismayed over the recent interpretation of events described in my book,” she wrote for Time, in response to the way Ben Shapiro’s blog Truth Revolt described an excerpt about her childhood from her memoirs, Not That Kind of Girl.

“If the situations described in my book have been painful or triggering for people to read, I am sorry, as that was never my intention,” she continued.

“I am also aware that the comic use of the term ‘sexual predator’ was insensitive, and I’m sorry for that as well.”

She described her sibling, Grace, as her “best friend”, adding that “anything I have written about her has been published with her approval”.

It was the second time Dunham has addressed the accusations in public.

In a series of posts on Twitter, Dunham branded the accusations “upsetting and disgusting”.

Blog Truth Revolt, headed up by US Conservative political commentator Shapiro, posted an article titled ‘Lena Dunham Describes Sexually Abusing Her Little Sister’ on Thursday.

The article cites a passage from Dunham’s collection of non-fictional essays, which were first published in September.

It claims that the Girls creator describes using her sister to sexually experiment with, writing that she attempted to persuade to kiss her using the sort of methods “a sexual predator might do”.

It goes on to cite National Review journalist Kevin D. Williamson’s article “Pathetic Priviledge”, which was published on 3 November. Referencing the same passage, he writes that the tale is “especially suspicious” and that there was “no non-horrific explanation” for its inclusion.

Dunham has since cancelled two dates of her European book tour following the allegations.

Her lawyers have since threatened to sue the website for “millions of dollars”.

“The story is false, fabricated, and has the obvious tendency to subject my client to ridicule, and to injure her in her occupation,” attorney Charles Harder wrote in a letter seen by The Hollywood Reporter and published in part on the Truth Revolt’s website.

Shapiro responded to the threatened legal action, writing: “We refuse to withdraw our story or apologize for running it, because quoting a woman’s book does not constitute a ‘false’ story, even if she is a prominent actress and left-wing activist. Lena Dunham may not like our interpretation of her book, but unfortunately for her and her attorneys, she wrote that book.”