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Lena Dunham has issued a lengthy apology on Instagram after comments she made about NFL star Odell Beckham Jr caused an uproar on social media.
In a piece published on her website Lenny Letter this week, in which the Girls star interviewed Amy Schumer, the women discussed their dislike of the Met Gala, and Lena in particular described her experience sitting opposite the footballer.
“He looked at me and he determined I was not the shape of a woman by his standards,” Dunham said. “He was like, ‘That’s a marshmallow. That’s a child. That’s a dog.’ It wasn’t mean — he just seemed confused,” she continued.
“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. I was like, ‘This should be called the Metropolitan Museum of Getting Rejected by Athletes.'”
Image: Getty Images
Many called out Dunham over her comments, labelling them as insulting, racist and narcissistic. After some reflection, she posted a long apology to Instagram on Saturday.
“I owe Odell Beckham Jr an apology,” she began. “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.”
She said she now realised that she’d made “narcissistic assumptions about what he was thinking” and “projected these insecurities” onto the New York Giants star.
“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-sexualisation 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 (I don’t know a lot of things) and I shouldn’t have acted like I did.”
Beckham is yet to respond to the furor.
