Lena Dunham says she was high after surgery when she defended a Girls coworker accused of rape

In an interview with The Cut, actress Lena Dunham addressed the growing list of controversies she has set off in recent years, admitting that she is "not for everyone."

One of Dunham's many recent incidents was when she jumped to the defense of Girls writer and producer Murray Miller last fall after an actress, Aurora Perrineau, accused him of sexual assault. Dunham, along with Girls co-creator Jenni Konner, said in a statement to The Hollywood Reporter at the time that this was an example of the #MeToo movement "taking down the wrong targets." Dunham later apologized for the statement, and apologized to Perrineau privately.

Now, Dunham explains to The Cut that when she gave those comments, she was "high as a f-cking kite" following surgery, but she was thinking, "F-ck everyone else. This is my tribe. Let's keep it safe." She also suggested that she didn't think her comments would receive a backlash because "people know that I'm an advocate for these issues, so if I say this, they'll know I'm not coming from X or Y place." Additionally, Dunham told The Cut that she knew about the accusations for a month before they became public because Miller told her his side of the story.

Subscribe to The Week

Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

SUBSCRIBE & SAVE

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

Sign up

The rest of the Dunham profile deals both with the Girls creator's recent treatment for PTSD and her hysterectomy, as well as the way the public has grown to perceive her. Dunham, who admits she has sometimes wanted to "poke the sleeping bear," points to her upbringing around "liberal provocateurs," who as a kid taught her to say things that "might now warrant a trigger warning." Read the full profile at The Cut.