--- title: Lena Dunham Calls for Men to Denounce Harvey Weinstein description: Lena Dunham denounced men in Hollywood for their "deafening silence" on the sexual harassment allegations against Harvey Weinstein canonical: https://time.com/4975469/harvey-weinstein-lena-dunham-sexual-harassment-allegations/ author: Entertainment Weekly article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2017-10-10T01:55:47.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-08-04T07:47:27.491Z og:title: Lena Dunham Calls for Men to Denounce Harvey Weinstein og:description: The 'Girls' creator wrote an NYT op-ed in the wake of the harassment allegations og:url: https://time.com/4975469/harvey-weinstein-lena-dunham-sexual-harassment-allegations/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltbc9f34843e603147/6988e12abc6cfc98f83e373d/lena-dunham.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 2716 og:image:height: 1528 og:image:alt: "My Art" Premiere - 2017 Tribeca Film Festival og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Lena Dunham Calls for Men to Denounce Harvey Weinstein twitter:description: The 'Girls' creator wrote an NYT op-ed in the wake of the harassment allegations twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltbc9f34843e603147/6988e12abc6cfc98f83e373d/lena-dunham.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Lena Dunham Calls Out Men for 'Deafening Silence' on Harvey Weinstein Allegations > Sponsored content. 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Every edition is assembled by TIME editors rather than generated automatically. ### Sources * TIME Newsletters: [time.com/newsletters](/c/time-nl-brief-2026q3/newsletters?i=555b452e-e330-4865-9397-6511004d8a40&cr=time-nl-brief-2026q3-v1) ## Video: Meryl Streep Slams Harvey Weinstein's 'Inexcusable' Behavior and Asserts 'I Didn't Know' [Watch (HLS stream): Meryl Streep Slams Harvey Weinstein's 'Inexcusable' Behavior and Asserts 'I Didn't Know'](https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/Gyea9Wey.m3u8) (1:42)  _Published 2017-10-09. Actress Meryl Streep is speaking out against frequent collaborator Harvey Weinstein amid allegations of decades of sexual misconduct_ by [David Canfield / Entertainment Weekly](https://time.com/author/entertainment-weekly/) ## David Canfield / Entertainment Weekly Oct 10, 2017 1:55 AM UTC  Lena Dunham attends "My Art" premiere during the 2017 Tribeca Film Festival at Cinepolis Chelsea in New York on April 22, 2017. Lena Dunham attends "My Art" premiere during the 2017 Tribeca Film Festival at Cinepolis Chelsea in New York on April 22, 2017. Ben Gabbe—Getty Images/Tribeca Film Festival by [David Canfield / Entertainment Weekly](https://time.com/author/entertainment-weekly/) ## David Canfield / Entertainment Weekly Oct 10, 2017 1:55 AM UTC [Lena Dunham](http://ew.com/movies/2017/10/09/lena-dunham-harvey-weinstein-letter/) has called out men in Hollywood for their “deafening silence” in the wake the sexual harassment allegations made against Harvey Weinstein. [In a _New York Times_ op-ed](https://www.nytimes.com/2017/10/09/opinion/harvey-weinstein-lena-dunham-silence-.html), the _Girls_ creator and star claimed that while Weinstein is the most “powerful man in Hollywood to be revealed as a predator” and his alleged behavior is “a microcosm of what has been happening in Hollywood since always and of what workplace harassment looks like for women everywhere.” “A liberal-leaning industry, we have been quick to condemn Bill O’Reilly, Roger Ailes and, yes, the president. We do not accept sexual abuse as ‘locker room talk,’” she wrote, citing President Donald Trump’s defense of his graphic, sexist comments in a 2005 _Access Hollywood_ video. “So why the deafening silence, particularly from the industry’s men, when one of our own is outed as having a nasty taste for humiliating and traumatizing women?” While actors Seth Rogen and Mark Ruffalo and directors James Gunn, Scott Derrickson, and Kevin Smith have spoken out about Weinstein in recent days, much of the criticism against the former executive has been expressed by prominent women in Hollywood, including Meryl Streep, Kate Winslet, Judi Dench, and Julianne Moore. Late-night comedy shows hosted by men avoided the topic on Friday, and reports surfaced that _Saturday Night Live_ [cut Weinstein references](https://www.nytimes.com/2017/10/08/arts/television/snl-weinstein-jokes.html) from Weekend Update and a sketch because they weren’t playing well in dress rehearsal. (John Oliver did take on the Weinstein allegations during _Last Week Tonight_ on Sunday.) “The reason I am zeroing in on the men is that they have the least to lose and the most power to shift the narrative, and are probably not dealing with the same level of collective and personal trauma around these allegations,” Dunham explained in her op-ed. “But here we are, days later, waiting for Mr. Weinstein’s most powerful collaborators to say something. Anything. It wouldn’t be just a gift to the women he has victimized, but a message to the women who are watching our industry closely. They need a signal that we do not approve of the abuse of power and hatred of women that is the driving force behind this kind of behavior.” Dunham concluded by noting the continued silence is a reason why women still struggle to come forward and speak out: “Hollywood’s silence, particularly that of men who worked closely with Mr. Weinstein, only reinforces the culture that keeps women from speaking. When we stay silent, we gag the victims. When we stay silent, we condone behavior that none of us could possibly believe is O.K.” Read the full op-ed [here](https://www.nytimes.com/2017/10/09/opinion/harvey-weinstein-lena-dunham-silence-.html). Last week, the _New York Times_ published an exposé of Weinstein’s alleged sexual harassment, which included on-record comments from actress Ashley Judd. Weinstein [issued a statement](https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2017/10/05/us/statement-from-harvey-weinstein.html) to the _Times_ in response to the report, saying in part, “I came of age in the ’60s and ’70s, when all the rules about behavior and workplaces were different. That was the culture then. I have since learned it’s not an excuse, in the office – or out of it. To anyone. I realized some time ago that I needed to be a better person and my interactions with the people I work with have changed. I appreciate the way I’ve behaved with colleagues in the past has caused a lot of pain, and I sincerely apologize for it.” In response to the _Times_ story, Weinstein lawyer Charles Harder said he was preparing a suit against the publication. “_The New York Times_ published today a story that is saturated with false and defamatory statements about Harvey Weinstein. It relies on mostly hearsay accounts and a faulty report, apparently stolen from an employee personnel file, which has been debunked by 9 different eyewitnesses. We sent the _Times_ the facts and evidence, but they ignored it and rushed to publish. We are preparing the lawsuit now. All proceeds will be donated to women’s organizations.” Since last week, other women have come forward with allegations against Weinstein, including reporter Lauren Sivan, [who claimed](http://ew.com/tv/2017/10/09/lauren-sivan-megyn-kelly-weinstein/) Weinstein exposed himself to her. Speaking to NBC’s Megyn Kelly on Monday, Sivan said she was compelled to speak out after reading Weinstein’s statement. “His apology was the final straw for me,” she said. “Enough is enough with this guy. There was no remorse, there was no even acknowledgment of the type of behavior that was going on. If he did this with me, who’s just a stranger, who is not an actress in Hollywood and doesn’t need anything from him, I can only imagine how many other women this has happened to.” _This_ [_article_ ](http://ew.com/movies/2017/10/09/lena-dunham-harvey-weinstein-letter/)_originally appeared on_ [_ew.com_](http://ew.com)_._ ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4975469/harvey-weinstein-lena-dunham-sexual-harassment-allegations/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4975469/harvey-weinstein-lena-dunham-sexual-harassment-allegations/"},"headline":"Lena Dunham Calls Out Men for 'Deafening Silence' on Harvey Weinstein Allegations","datePublished":"2017-10-10T01:55:47.000Z","dateModified":"2026-08-04T07:47:27.491Z","description":"The ‘Girls’ creator wrote an op-ed for the ‘New York Times’ in the wake of the sexual harassment allegations against Weinstein","url":"https://time.com/4975469/harvey-weinstein-lena-dunham-sexual-harassment-allegations/","keywords":["Newsfeed","lena dunham","Hollywood","Harvey Weinstein","sexual harassment","onetime"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltbc9f34843e603147/6988e12abc6cfc98f83e373d/lena-dunham.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"David Canfield / Entertainment Weekly"}],"articleSection":"","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltbc9f34843e603147/6988e12abc6cfc98f83e373d/lena-dunham.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"\"My Art\" Premiere - 2017 Tribeca Film Festival","caption":"\"My Art\" Premiere - 2017 Tribeca Film Festival","creditText":"Ben Gabbe—Getty Images/Tribeca Film Festival","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":"/tag/time-section-newsfeed/","name":"Newsfeed"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/4975469/harvey-weinstein-lena-dunham-sexual-harassment-allegations/","name":"Lena Dunham Calls Out Men for 'Deafening Silence' on Harvey Weinstein Allegations"}}]},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"VideoObject","name":"Meryl Streep Slams Harvey Weinstein's 'Inexcusable' Behavior and Asserts 'I Didn't Know'","description":"Actress Meryl Streep is speaking out against frequent collaborator Harvey Weinstein amid allegations of decades of sexual misconduct","thumbnailUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/v2/media/Gyea9Wey/poster.jpg?width=720","uploadDate":"2017-10-09T14:29:46.000Z","contentUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/Gyea9Wey.m3u8","embedUrl":"https://time.com/4975469/harvey-weinstein-lena-dunham-sexual-harassment-allegations/","duration":"PT1M42S","potentialAction":{"@type":"SeekToAction","target":"https://time.com/4975469/harvey-weinstein-lena-dunham-sexual-harassment-allegations/?jw_start={seek_to_second_number}","startOffset-input":"required name=seek_to_second_number"}}] ```