Lena Dunham has made some mistakes over the years — like the time she compared Bill Cosby to the Holocaust, the many times she published questionable tweets, and even the time that she reacted poorly to Odell Beckham Jr.'s disinterest in her at the Met Ball.
Yet, her public image has always made a pretty speedy recovery. Case in point: her apology to Odell in a memorable Lenny Letter, acknowledging the "narcissistic assumptions" she made about the baller's thoughts.
But there is one thing she has yet to make amends for, until now: The all-white cast of Girls. The show's white feminism narrative was a hot topic during its first season, but as the series progressed, the issue seemingly fell by the wayside, all while never seeming to become more inclusive.
Now, as the show's final season approaches, Dunham is speaking out about its treatment of race. On the radio show The Breakfast Club, she admitted that Girls never really redeemed itself in that category — and, in fact, admitted that the criticism was totally merited.
"I'm not gonna say that I've made up for it," she says. However, she hopes to "make up for it" by supporting "female voices of color the way our voices have been supported." She admits: "Everyone's criticism about Girls was totally valid."
She added that she's excited for Issa Rae's upcoming HBO show, Insecure — and that, obviously, Rae is better positioned to tell Black women's stories than she is. "It doesn’t need to be my voice telling the story of a Black woman’s New York experience, it needs to be Issa getting to go deep and go personal about what it feels like to be a young Black woman dating in Los Angeles right now.”
From the beginning, part of Dunham's appeal has lain in her personal flaws and willingness to own them. She's an honest artist — which is also why she's gotten so damn good at apologizing. Girls isn't perfect — not even Dunham thinks that. But it seems like she learned a lesson and that whatever she works on next will contain more diversity.
"I never wanna see another poster that's four white girls," she said on-air. Neither do we, Dunham. Neither do we.
Oh, and FYI: Insecure premieres October 9. Get excited. (HelloGiggles)
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