Lena Dunham was criticized for defending “Girls” writer Murray Miller against allegations of rape and now Judd Apatow is standing up for Dunham.
Apatow, 50, stood by Dunham and explained the difficulty of navigating public opinion amidst the current outrage against alleged sexual assault perpetrators.
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“Lena is the greatest person I have ever met. She fights so hard for so many important causes,” Apatow told The Hollywood Reporter. “She really sticks her neck out. She cares about people. She started this amazing Lenny newsletter, which has created a platform for all sorts of different women to speak and be heard.”
The “40-Year-Old Virgin” director insisted everyone in the spotlight is affected by sexual assault allegations, not just those at the centre of the accusations.
“We’re all kind of trying to figure out how to navigate this best,” he continued. “It affects all of our lives and touches all of our lives in all different ways. She apologized for speaking too quickly, but I think many of us are in that situation. And I think overall she is one of the great people in our business fighting for very important causes. And I appreciate that.”
“Girls” writer Milller was accused of raping actress Aurora Perrineau when she was 17. Soon after the allegations were made public, Dunham came to Miller’s defense.
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“While our first instinct is to listen to every woman’s story, our insider knowledge of Murray’s situation makes us confident that sadly this accusation is one of the 3% of assault cases that are misreported every year,” Dunham said.
After generating loads of heat, however, Dunham apologized: “I now understand that it was absolutely the wrong time to come forward with such a statement and I am so sorry.”
