One of the writers for Lena Dunham’s weekly online newsletter has quit her job following the actress’ controversial defense of a producer pal who was accused of sexual assault.
Author Zinzi Clemmons announced her decision to walk away from the feminist Lenny Letter in a Twitter post on Sunday (19Nov17), two days after actress Aurora Perrineau, whose father is African-American actor Harold Perrineau, filed a rape complaint with police about Murray Miller, a writer and executive producer on Lena’s Girls TV drama.
He “vehemently” denied the accusations, and immediately won the support of Lena and her frequent collaborator Jenni Konner, who issued a statement discrediting Aurora’s assault allegation, sparking a backlash among followers online.
Dunham has since apologized for her ill-advised remarks, but it wasn’t enough for Clemmons, who has since slammed the actress for her hypocritical behavior, while also claiming the star and her friends have long displayed racist tendencies towards people of color.
In her lengthy Twitter statement, Zinzi reveals she has known Lena through mutual friends since college, but she “avoided those people like the plague because of their racism”.
https://twitter.com/zinziclemmons/status/932200880975286273
“I’d call their strain ‘hipster-racism,’ which typically uses sarcasm as a cover,” she added.
Zinzi goes on to explain she continued to contribute content to the Lenny Letter emails as she had a good relationship with her editors, but Lena’s initial reaction to Aurora’s sexual misconduct allegation prompted her to dump the gig.
“As a result of Lena Dunham’s statements, I have decided that I will no longer write for Lenny Letter,” she shared. “For all you writers who are outraged about what she did, I encourage you to do the same. Especially women of color.”
Concluding her message, she wrote, “Let’s hold Lena accountable, and to me that means sacrificing some comfort and a little bit of cash, in this moment.”
Dunham has yet to respond to Clemmons‘ comments.
