--- title: Lena Dunham Responds to Sexual Abuse Controversy description: In an exclusive statement to TIME, the author addresses recent controversy over a passage in her book, Not That Kind of Girl, regarding her relationship with her younger sister canonical: https://time.com/3556513/lena-dunham-sexual-abuse-controversy/ author: Lena Dunham article:opinion: true article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2014-11-04T17:57:21.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-02-21T11:12:50.011Z article:section: Ideas og:title: Lena Dunham: 'I Do Not Condone Any Kind of Abuse' og:description: In an exclusive statement to TIME, the author addresses recent controversy over a passage in her book, Not That Kind of Girl, regarding her relationship with her younger sister og:url: https://time.com/3556513/lena-dunham-sexual-abuse-controversy/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltc5aa81831f03aae3/6987640b35ba6f300fc04cc1/lena-dunham.jpg?branch=production&width=2400&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 675 og:image:alt: Lena Dunham og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Lena Dunham: 'I Do Not Condone Any Kind of Abuse' twitter:description: In an exclusive statement to TIME, the author addresses recent controversy over a passage in her book, Not That Kind of Girl, regarding her relationship with her younger sister twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltc5aa81831f03aae3/6987640b35ba6f300fc04cc1/lena-dunham.jpg?branch=production&width=2400&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Lena Dunham: 'I Do Not Condone Any Kind of Abuse'  by [Lena Dunham](https://time.com/author/lena-dunham/)  ## Lena Dunham Nov 4, 2014 5:57 PM UTC  Lena Dunham Lena DunhamJeff Kravitz—FilmMagic/Getty Images  by [Lena Dunham](https://time.com/author/lena-dunham/)  ## Lena Dunham Nov 4, 2014 5:57 PM UTC I am dismayed over the recent interpretation of events described in my book _Not That Kind of Girl._ First and foremost, I want to be very clear that I do not condone any kind of abuse under any circumstances. Childhood sexual abuse is a life-shattering event for so many, and I have been vocal about the rights of survivors. 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. I am also aware that the comic use of the term “sexual predator” was insensitive, and I’m sorry for that as well. As for my sibling, Grace, she is my best friend, and anything I have written about her has been published with her approval. _Read next:_ [_Lena Dunham Goes on ‘Rage Spiral’ After Abuse Allegations_](http://time.com/3554403/lena-dunham-rage-spiral-media/?xid=time%5Freadnext) ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"OpinionNewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/3556513/lena-dunham-sexual-abuse-controversy/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/3556513/lena-dunham-sexual-abuse-controversy/"},"headline":"Lena Dunham: 'I Do Not Condone Any Kind of Abuse'","datePublished":"2014-11-04T17:57:21.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-21T11:12:50.011Z","description":"In an exclusive statement to TIME, the author addresses recent controversy over a passage in her book, Not That Kind of Girl, regarding her relationship with her younger sister","url":"https://time.com/3556513/lena-dunham-sexual-abuse-controversy/","keywords":["lena dunham","Books","sexual abuse","Living"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltc5aa81831f03aae3/6987640b35ba6f300fc04cc1/lena-dunham.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Lena Dunham","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/lena-dunham/"}],"articleSection":"Ideas","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltc5aa81831f03aae3/6987640b35ba6f300fc04cc1/lena-dunham.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"Lena Dunham","caption":"Lena Dunham","creditText":"Jeff Kravitz—FilmMagic/Getty Images","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/ideas/","name":"Ideas"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/3556513/lena-dunham-sexual-abuse-controversy/","name":"Lena Dunham: 'I Do Not Condone Any Kind of Abuse'"}}]}] ```