Television

Lena Dunham Faces Backlash After Defending An Accused Rapist

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By Briana Trusty

The Girls star is being slammed on social media after defending Murray Miller, a writer and producer from her HBO Show, who is being accused of sexually assaulting actress Aurora Perrineau when she was 17.

Dunham, along with series co-creator Jenni Konner, released a statement to The Hollywood Reporter on Nov. 17, 2017, in which they voiced their support for 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."

Dunham took to Twitter later in the day on Nov. 17, 2017, to post yet another message of support, writing, "I believe in a lot of things but the first tenet of my politics is to hold up the people who have held me up, who have filled my world with love."

In light of Dunham's defense of Murray, Twitter users dug up a tweet from the actress from August 2017 where she cast herself as an advocate for victims of sexual assault in Hollywood.

One user wrote, "Never call yourself an advocate for women again because you've just proven that you are NOT."

"Believe women, unless they say something about a friend of mine, in which case they are liars," another critic said.

Perrineau filed a complaint about the alleged attack on Nov. 17, 2017, with the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department (via The Wrap). The actress claims that after she "consumed some alcoholic beverages" she woke up naked in Miller's bed where he was having non-consensual sex with her.

In response to the allegations, Miller's attorney said that the Girls writer "categorically and vehemently denies Ms. Perrineau's outrageous claims."

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