Lena Dunham Responds to Anger Over Comedian's N-Word Tweet
Lena Dunham didn't speak to the press at the Writers Guild Awards last Sunday, nor did she give a long speech when she accepted the trophy for best new series. And yet, she still finds herself embroiled in a controversy that launched during the show, even though it was none of her doing.
Comedian and presenter Lisa Lampanelli, who is famously known for her foul mouth, tweeted a photo of herself and Dunham at the awards, with the caption "Me with my n---a @LenaDunham of @HBOGirls - I love this beyotch!" Predictably, the tweet fired up critics, angry at Lampanelli -- a white woman -- for using the word.
One writer, Shayla Pierce, wrote several stories for various online publications expressing her outrage, and then took to Twitter to call out Dunham for not condemning Lampanelli.
".@LenaDunham has showed her true colors on this whole n-word debacle. Her silence speaks volumes," she tweeted. "I don't think I'll be watching @girlsHBO anymore. And I say that with honest sadness... Lena advertises herself as a progressive but she's chosen not to address the situation. She seems phony to me now."
Dunham responded on Twitter, writing that she would never use the n-word and that Lampanelli's tweet made her "supremely uncomfortable," but stayed silent because "twitter debates breed more twitter debates."
She added that "140 characters will never be enough for the kind of dialogue that will actually help us address issues of race and class," and then commended Pierce for a "beautifully written piece," apologizing for any discomfort she may have felt.
Pierce happily accepted her response, writing, "Thank you so much. And I do <3 you and your work. Thanks for addressing this *hugsies* @lenadunham."
For her part, Lampanelli has defended her use of the word, saying "The N-word ending in 'er' is far different context from the word ending in 'a.' Ask any person who knows the urban dictionary, it means 'friend."
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WHAT does one have to do then? what progress are we making, and why are we continuing to attack?
Lena can apologize until she's blue in the face, but hanging out with Lisa, who already has a history of pulling racist shit and then hiding behind the shield of ~comedy, she was flirting with more race drama. Her outrage at the tweet is a joke, as well. Why? Because she only spoke out against after the public came at the two of them. She knew that shit was wrong then, and didn't say anything. Her silence was as good as encouragement.
Sorry, but get your facts straight -- unless you're stretching it so thin as to support your baseless argument. Lena wasn't "hanging out" with Lisa; they were at the same event, and Lisa, as a fan of hers, wanted to take a picture. And so she did. And so now Lena is apparently a gigantic racist. It's utterly absurd.
What, pray tell, is the exact proper time frame for Lena to have spoken out about what ***LISA*** did and what would have been the exact proper response? The answer is that THERE IS NONE. And Lena took her time (you would think MONTHS, given the outrage), and gave a very good statement in response to an offended black writer, who has since retracted her statements, and they've made up. Her silence was as good as encouragement? Are you fucking KIDDING ME? Grow up. Seriously, grow up and gain a little more insight.