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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Anyways hon, it's 1 am here in Paris and I got big things to do tomorrow, so goodnight darling, sweet dreams, I'll be sure to hop on ONTD whenever I get a chance to give some more material to pore over and to add to your growing study about me <3
i guess i do pay enough attention to know you're an anti-Semite
Didn't you say bye like 5 times already are you ready to leave yet or do just want to prolong the moment where I finally pay attention to little old you
cherish it hon, your moment in the spotlight
and then in the benghazi post when you told people to sympathize with the people who attack the embassy because of some bullshit reasoning about being driven to do it
or when you said attacks on israel were deserved because of their treatment of palestine
you are psychotic and you get angry and call people white and male when they don't agree with you - it's really irrational and frankly, startling behavior - whatever issues you may have you need to deal with because this isn't cool
all these feels
LET THEM OUT GURL LET THEM OUT, tell the world how I'm psychotic as you ramble on and on and on for ages about how "crazy" I am
i wish you well it really does seem like you need it. :/
Will they resist the temptation to reply to this message??? Only time will tell!
Goodnight, folks, and we'll see you next time on "how thirsty screwhim is for the last word"!