Lena Dunham has opened up about why she wrote in her recent memoir about being sexually assaulted while in college.
In a lengthy statement published Tuesday by BuzzFeed, Dunham hits back at accusations that she described the man she claims assaulted her in a way that could be matched a male student who also attended Oberlin College. The student has denied he raped Dunham; her publisher plans to alter Not That Kind of Girl to specify that “Barry” is a pseudonym.
In her statement, the Girls writer and actress explains she was inspired by other sexual-assault survivors to share her story, while also addressing the recent accusations:
Dunham, who wrote that she was drunk and high during her assault, also addressed her frustration when she receives questions that relate her intoxication to the incident:
Dunham’s decision to share her story was praised when it was released in September, in the midst of an ongoing national dialogue on campus sexual assault. Her writing had previously met controversy when a conservative group accused her of sexually abusing her younger sister.
[BuzzFeed]
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