White Feminism Proponent™ Lena Dunham is at the receiving end of the internet's ire after she came to the defense of Murray Miller, a writer on her HBO show Girls, after he was accused of rape by actress Aurora Perrineau.
Perrineau was 17-years-old at the time of the alleged assault. Miller was 35. A report has been filed with the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department.
The Wrap reports that Perrineau passed a polygraph test about the accusations. In a statement from the polygraph test, Perrineau says she met Miller at the Standard Hotel with friends. She also says she let Miller know that she was 17 after he began flirting with her. They eventually ended up at Miller's home, along with the two friends of the actress.
"At some point, I woke up in Murray’s bed naked. He was on top of me having sexual intercourse with me. At no time did I consent to any sexual contact with Murray," Perrineau said.
Miller's attorney Don Walerstein released a statement in which he claims his client is innocent. "Mr. Miller categorically and vehemently denies Ms. Perrineau’s outrageous claims." It continues, "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."
Dunham and Jenni Konner, who were co-showrunners for Girls, sent a statement to THR defending Miller, writing the following:
"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 percent 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."
Folks took to social media to point out the hypocrisy of Dunham and the change in tone when the accuser is a woman of color and the accused is a white man.
