Yesterday saw the publication of an interview between Lena Dunham and Amy Schumer in Dunham’s newsletter Lenny.
While it was mostly a love-fest between the two friends, one section, in which Dunham made comments about New York Giants NFL player Odell Beckham Jr, caught the internet’s attention and led to a swift and severe social media backlash.
The relevant comments came when Dunham spoke about being seated at the same table as Beckham at this year’s Met Gala, and feeling ignored or overlooked or … something. She wrote:
“I 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. He was like, “That’s a marshmallow. That’s a child. That’s a dog.” It wasn’t mean – he just seemed confused. The vibe was very much like, “Do I want to fuck 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. I was like, “This should be called the Metropolitan Museum of Getting Rejected by Athletes.””
After copping a fair amount of blowback, Dunham began to clarify her comments, saying that her story was meant to be about her own insecurities as an “average-bodied woman” at a table of “supermodels and athletes.”
“It’s not an assumption about who he is or an expectation of sexual attention. It’s my sense of humour, which has kept me alive for 30 years” she said. “Glad the outrage machine roars on though, right?”
Glad the outrage machine roars on though, right @amyschumer?
— Lena Dunham (@lenadunham) September 2, 2016
Overnight, however, Dunham made a lengthier clarification on her Instagram, and offered an apology to Beckham. The Girls star wrote:
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. 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. Much love and thanks, Lena
Beckham has yet to respond.
Source: Instagram.
Photo: Taylor Hill / Getty.
