Lena Dunham Takes Rest From Girls Press Tour Due To Illness

Lena Dunham would be gearing up for another Girls press tour, but a recent illness has the actress, writer, and director sidelined. The show will be back February 21 on HBO for its penultimate season. Dunham has endometriosis, a condition in which tissue that normally lines the uterus grows outside of the uterus. The disease affects 6-10% of women of reproductive age, according to the National Institutes of Health. “I am currently going through a rough patch with the illness and my body (along with my amazing doctors) let me know, in no uncertain terms, that it's time to rest,” Dunham wrote on Facebook. “That's a hard thing to do, but I'm trying, because all I want is to make season six of Girls the best one yet.” Endometriosis causes moderate to severe pain in approximately 11% of those that suffer from it. Dunham acknowledged that she was lucky to be able to skip the press tour. “So many women with this disease literally don't have the option of time off and I won't take it for granted,” she wrote. She originally wrote about the disease in a piece published on her email newsletter Lenny Letter. “I am oddly fearless for a wimp with no upper-body strength,” Dunham wrote. “And I am no longer scared of my body. In fact, I listen to it when it speaks. I have no choice but to respect what it tells me, to respect the strength of its voice and the truth of my own.”