Earlier this week, a writer and executive producer for the show Girls was accused of sexual assault by an actress. Actress Aurora Perrineau filed a police report in Los Angeles County alleging that Murray Miller initiated sex with her without her consent. After a night of drinking, Perrineau — who was 17 at the time — says she went to Murray’s house with several other people and, “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.†In response to these allegations, Jenni Konner and Lena Dunham issued a joint statement defending their former co-worker and saying, “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.â€
Dunham and Konner’s decision to celebrate the wave of women coming forward with assault allegations against powerful figures in the entertainment industry while also dismissing out of hand the accusations made against their friend angered many who saw them as minimizing Perrineau’s experience because it involved someone close to them. While Miller’s attorney issued a statement saying his client “categorically and vehemently denies Ms. Perrineau’s outrageous claims,†Dunham and Konner have issued a second statement apologizing for their initial remarks. You can read their additional comments in this tweet from Dunham’s account.