Actress and Girls showrunner Lena Dunham came under fire on social media Friday after attributing sexist comments to NFL player Odell Beckham, Jr. during an interview with fellow actress Amy Schumer — but Beckham never made the comments, because Dunham and Beckham did not interact with each other during the time the actress describes.
In the interview, published in Dunham’s “Lenny” newsletter Friday morning, the 30-year-old actress described the time she and New York Giants wide receiver Beckham spent sitting together during the Met Ball earlier this year.
“I was sitting next to Odell Beckham Jr., and it was so amazing because it was like he looked at me and he determined I was not the shape of a woman by his standards. He was like, ‘That’s a marshmallow. That’s a child. That’s a dog.’ It wasn’t mean — he just seemed confused,” Dunham said.
Dunham continued by apparently projecting sexist thoughts onto Beckham Jr.: “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.'”
It wasn’t clear if the all-pro wide receiver said or intimated any of the things Dunham claims.
Social media users were quick to criticize and mock the actress for putting words in Beckham’s mouth.
Perhaps feeling the tsunami of social media rage against her, Dunham backpedaled late Friday, sending a series of tweets to clarify the points she was trying to make in her interview.
Beckham Jr. has not yet responded.
Read Dunham and Schumer’s full interview here.
Follow Jerome Hudson on Twitter @jeromeehudson
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