Biodun Iginla, BBC News

Biodun Iginla, BBC News

Monday, November 20, 2017

US writer Zinzi Clemmons accuses Girls star Lena Dunham of 'hipster racism'



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3 hours ago

Lena Dunham
A black feminist writer has urged women of colour to cut ties with Lena Dunham and accused the actress of "hipster racism".
Zinzi Clemmons, a former contributor to Lena's website Lenny Letter, made her claims on Facebook and Twitter.
Zinzi claims she "ran in the same circles" as Lena while she was studying.
Newsbeat has contacted Lena Dunham's representatives for a response to Zinzi's statement.
Zinzi says she was in the same year as Jemima Kirke, who starred in Girls with Lena, at Brown University in America.
"I avoided those people like the plague because of their well-known racism," said Zinzi in the original Facebook post.
"I'd call their strain 'hipster racism', which typically uses sarcasm as a cover.
"In Lena's circle, there was a girl who was known to use the N word in conversation in order to be provocative, and if she was ever called on it, she would say 'it's just a joke.'
"I was often in the same room with her, but I never spoke to her, only watched her from afar in anxiety and horror."
Jennifer Konner and Lena Dunham
Image captionLena created Lenny Letter with writer and producer Jennifer Konner, who also worked on Girls
Zinzi says she was inspired to cut professional ties with Lena and Lenny Letter after the actress supported a friend who had been accused of sexual assault.
Lena recently apologised for defending Murray Miller, a writer who worked on her TV show Girls, after allegations made by actress Aurora Perrineau.
Zinzi also claims that the people she referenced were still being supported by Lena.
Zinzi also claims in her written statement that a friend suffered abuse from someone else in Lena Dunham's social circle.
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