Lena Delivers The Apology "Barry" Was Waiting For. Churlishly, Natch

Lena Dunham, presumably typing with one arm twisted behind her back, shows how not to apologize:

Lena Dunham: Why I Chose To Speak Out

Ahh, because your lawyers thought it was the best way to keep your fancy condo?

Noo! To inspire rape survivors everywhere! Her lead, with the apology "Barry" was looking for:

It has been almost a decade since I was sexually assaulted. It took me a long time to fully acknowledge what had happened and even longer to discuss it publicly, in the form of an essay in my book Not That Kind of Girl. When I finally decided to share my story, it had ambiguities and gray areas, because that’s what I experienced, because that’s what so many of us have experienced. As indicated in the beginning of the book, I made the choice to keep certain identities private, changing names and some descriptive details. To be very clear, “Barry” is a pseudonym, not the name of the man who assaulted me, and any resemblance to a person with this name is an unfortunate and surreal coincidence. I am sorry about all he has experienced.

And the rest is whining about how hard it is for victims to be believed and the importance of treating their stories with sensitivity. A snippet:

I was not naïve enough to believe the essay in my book would be met with pure empathy or wild applause. The topic of sexual assault is far more inflammatory and divisive than it should be, with tension building around definitions of consent, and fear ruling the dialogue. But I hoped beyond hope that the sensitive nature of the event would be honored, and that no one would attempt to reopen these wounds or deepen my trauma. 

Uh huh. The topic is "far more inflammatory and divisive than it should be" but it never occurred to her that pointing the finger at a prominent campus Republican would somehow further inflame the debate. What kind of a world are we living in when a girl can't politicize her trauma without pushback?

Well. She has her audience and her paycheck.

ERRATA: The Daily News coverage includes this from the lawyer for "Barry":

“False rape accusations are a serious matter,” Minc added. “Lena Dunham and Random House allowed an innocent man to remain under a suspicion of rape when they knew the truth.

“This is a wrong that deserves correction. We have yet to hear from Ms. Dunham, who is the only person with firsthand knowledge who can truly exonerate “Barry One’s” reputation. It is unfathomable to us that she remains silent.”

And from the Daily Mail:

Aaron Minc, the attorney for the man, said he had received a statement from Random House promising to make clear that Barry is not a real name in any form - although the publisher has not made any public statement itself. 

'The statement ignores the fact they let my client hang out there for two months, he’s been damaged,' Mr Minc said.

'We are gratified that they put it out there my client isn’t that guy, but we're not completely satisfied,

'We haven't heard from Lena herself, just the publisher and we want to hear from her at some point exonerating "Barry".  

'Lena Dunham is the only person with first-hand knowledge who can truly clear my client’s name.'

And now we have heard from her. Not for the last time, regrettably.

CLASSIC MOMENTS IN STUPIDITY:

Some idiot at Jezebel praised Lena to the sky. Later, she added a minor correction:

Correction: An earlier version of this post stated that the man Dunham accused of rape is considering legal action. That was incorrect: the man considering legal action is a person who believes details in Dunham's book wrongly point to him as being the rapist. I regret the error.

Oh wait! You mean the idea that it seemed as if Dunham was accusing Oberlin Barry of rape is not utterly nonsensical? Thanks.

And yes, the site features the comment exchange that led to the correction, so they are at least honest about their incompetence:

 

Comments

[BB Key]

1

[rse]

2

[NKrebootsquared]

First of all... did Lena Dunham's younger sister speak out about being abused by an older skank sister?

Second, the 'apology' is an attempt at mitigating the amount of damages Random House will have to pay to barry and for other lies Dunham tells in her book. I hope there is soon a smoldering crater where RH's offices used to be.

[rse]

Thanks for the responses on China on the previous thread. It is being held up as the global model of State Capitalism that all the Western countries should aspire to. The K-12 vision is being structured here around that vision.

My gut is that this is just as ephemeral as QE ultimately, which is why it is important for parents to be paying attention in this period to what is being foisted via our schools and universities.

[James D.]

I would pay a lot of money to watch someone in an interview or other public setting tell Ms. Dunham to her face that, if she didn't want to "reopen her wounds or deepen her trauma" then maybe she shouldn't have written about them in a memoir with a million freaking copies printed.

[NKrebootsquared]

rse, fear not OPM has run out so the Progs' evil statists plans will never come to fruition. As the gears of debt and OPM collapse grind on, it looks like the greatest threat to liberty will be the mob, as pensions and medical care are cut and the Progs stir up bigger and nastier crowds. But the cops/military want to still be paid so they will suppress the mob and rightly so. What then? will there be decades of strife in the formerly developed world, or will strong men appear in EuTopia and the USA who will expell illegals and jihadis, and crush the mob? We may like those strong men at first, but aren't they just the flip side of Chavism and Putinism? Just cheery thoughts for the morning.

[James D.]

I am very curious how the lawyers at Random House let her book out in the first place.

She gave very specific details: an uncommon first name, a public political leaning that was very rare at her college, where her attacker worked while at college, etc. All things that are easily checkable.

Publishers pay a lot of money to people to ensure things like this don't happen, so they don't get sued. Did they all just take the week off when dear old Lena's book hit their department for vetting? Or was it never submitted at all for a legal once-over? Or were objections raised but quashed by execs who were so enamored of dear Lena that they couldn't bear to change a single word of her story?

[NKrebootsquared]

JamesD-- lawyers advise, and then leave it to clients' 'business judgment'. You deal with publishers, how do you rate their judgment? Thought so; the Lefties at RH wanted to make a bonus, and spread the Lefty Gospel. They rolled the dice publishing this dreck. I hope a smoldering crater results.

[Jack is Back!]

Is it libel to use a real person (Barry, the Republican) as an actual character committing a crime (Rape) that she now admits wasn't him?

[James D.]

I don't deal with publishers - I AM the publisher. And my experience is that most indie authors err very, very far on the side of caution as far as including anything that could potentially get us sued.

The authors I know who are with publishers say the same thing. If there's the slightest chance that someone could sue, regardless of how unlikely or ridiculous it might seem, you don't do it.

and that's fiction. In this case, it's a memoir, so - despite her attempts at a fig leaf in the introduction - there's a presumption that what she's saying is factual on some level.

[Iggy]

--It is being held up as the global model of State Capitalism that all the Western countries should aspire to. --

As Japan was before it and Sweden before Japan.
The excellent thing is lefties are like amateur investors; they always jump in at the top of a bull-market in whatever socialist/fascist house of cards is about to collapse.

[Iggy]

--Is it libel to use a real person (Barry, the Republican) as an actual character committing a crime (Rape) that she now admits wasn't him?--

IANAL but have dealt with defamation suits. Naming someone [even not naming them, merely providing sufficient detail so their identity is knowable] and falsely accusing them of a crime is libel per se in most jurisdictions, meaning if the accusation is demonstrated to be false it is libelous on its face and defamation is presumed and the plaintiff need only demonstrate damages, if any.

[Peter]

Hopefully this ugly idiot's 15 minutes will be over soon, like Lady Gaga's.

[Threadkiller]

Composite rape?

[NKrebootsquared]

Iggy-- you're correct of course, but so is rse in pointing out the evil plans of the Statist Progs to be around and seize power after the next economic collapse that they themselves created. The Progs are wrong. Not about the debt and OPM collapse, that will happen, but the dynamic of that collapse. The Progs are parasites that need the productive classes, until the confiscation the Progs plan takes place. Will the producers willingly give up wealth for the Progs to monopolize power? Nooooo, we'll shoot the sons of bitches when they try.... well Maguire and I will brandish field hockey sticks, which will be good enough up here in Ct.

[Captain Hate]

You know who else told a bullshit story about being sexually molested? Scotty Centerfold. To hell with him too.

[Extraneus]

And Kirsten Gillebrand was shockingly abused by an old dead guy.

[Iggy]

A little light humor to brighten your day from the Sony Pictures hack; Studio co chair and prominent producer clash over Angelina Jolie and others.

“I’m not remotely interested in presiding over a $180m ego bath that we both know will be the career-defining debacle for us both,” [Jolie's proposed Cleopatra flick] reads one email from Rudin. “I’m not destroying my career over a minimally talented spoiled brat who thought nothing of shoving this off her plate for eighteen months so she could go direct a movie. I have no desire to be making a movie with her, or anybody, that she runs and that we don’t. She’s a camp event and a celebrity and that’s all and the last thing anybody needs is to make a giant bomb with her that any fool could see coming. We will end up being the laughing stock of our industry and we will deserve it, which is so clearly where this is headed that I cannot believe we are still wasting our time with it.”

Particularly nice after Tom Brokaw's hagiographic commercial for Jolie's directorial debut last night.

[clarice]

I don't think KaKa is going to still love you after this, TM

[Appalled]

The problem is that it is impossible to believe that the identification of "Barry", prominent Oberlin Republican, was not intentional. Malice against Republicans is just too a-ok with the self-consciously trendy.

There is the bare possibility that the use of the name was the product of her sick unconscious mind, rather than her sick conscious mind. But her unwillingness to correct quickly suggests conscious malice.

[Janet - I wish my family had a poncho]

"Dunham’s description of opening her one-year-old sister’s legs and “probing” the baby’s vagina, of masturbating in bed next to her, of bribing Grace with candy for a prolonged kiss on the mouth, would meet the standard of preponderance of evidence for rape in any jurisdiction."

http://www.americanthinker.com/articles/2014/12/lena_and_grace_dunham_life_in_the_shamefree_zone.html

My FB friend Deborah wrote - " By her own admission and by her own definition, Lena Dunham raped her baby sister when she was 12 months old."

[narciso]

ah yes she was an editor on at least two ocassions:

Maybe after Jon Meacham' first outing, they were encouraged to libel more liberally

http://conservatives4palin.com/2014/12/sarah-palin-2016-love-see-woman-sides-running-top-spot.html

[Captain Hate]

Speaking of movies, I watched Lone Survivor this morning and thought it was a good movie as far as presenting the bravery of Lutrell and his fellow SEALs. I'm not sure I correctly understood the criticisms of Abadman because it seemed from my viewing as if there was adequate scrambling to send assets to get him out of the situation which was initially hampered by poor radio communications.

[Captain Hate]

And Kirsten Gillebrand was shockingly abused by an old dead guy.

Is that what killed him?

[Captain Hate]

Speaking of dumb bints, how did California miss the chance to be represented by this?

http://www.jammiewf.com/2014/laughingstock-sandra-fluke-has-unique-take-on-democrat-cia-torture-report/

[jimmyk on iPhone]

I find it hard to believe there is more than one Republican at Oberlin.

[Buford Gooch]

Errata; "You keep using that word. I do not think it means what you think it means."