Let's recap in case you're not up to speed on why everyone's talking about Lena Dunham this time.
In her Lenny newsletter, Lena Dunham interviewed Amy Schumer about their recent experiences at the Met Ball. In their informal chat, Dunham talked about sitting next to NFL star Odell Beckham, Jr.
Dunham explained to Schumer that she was "sitting next to Odell Beckham Jr., and it was so amazing because it was like he looked at me and he determined I was not the shape of a woman by his standards... It wasn’t mean—he just seemed confused…The vibe was very much like, ‘Do I want to f*ck it? Is it wearing a…yep, it’s wearing a tuxedo. I’m going to go back to my cell phone.’ It was like we were forced to be together, and he literally was scrolling Instagram rather than have to look at a woman in a bow tie."
They never met before that night. Many took Lena Dunham to task over the comments and, within a few hours, Dunham came back with a response and claimed that Twitter was an "outrage machine."
Glad the outrage machine roars on though, right @amyschumer?
— Lena Dunham (@lenadunham) September 2, 2016
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Then, the next day Lena Dunham posts a full apology on her Instagram to Odell Beckham, Jr.
Here's her apology in full.
"I owe Odell Beckham Jr an apology. Despite my moments of bravado, I struggle at industry events (and in life) with the sense that I don't rep a certain standard of beauty and so when I show up to the Met Ball surrounded by models and swan-like actresses it's hard not to feel like a sack of flaming garbage. This felt especially intense with a handsome athlete as my dinner companion and a bunch of women I was sure he'd rather be seated with. But I went ahead and projected these insecurities and made totally narcissistic assumptions about what he was thinking, then presented those assumptions as facts."
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"I feel terrible about it. Because after listening to lots of valid criticism, I see how unfair it is to ascribe misogynistic thoughts to someone I don't know AT ALL. Like, we have never met, I have no idea the kind of day he's having or what his truth is. But most importantly, I would never intentionally contribute to a long and often violent history of the over-sexualization of black male bodies- as well as false accusations by white women towards black men. I'm so sorry, particularly to OBJ, who has every right to be on his cell phone. The fact is I don't know about his state of mind (I don't know a lot of things) and I shouldn't have acted like I did."
