Aaron Minc, attorney for the man Breitbart News identifies as “Barry One,” has released a statement to the media in response to the statement released by Lena Dunham’s publisher, Random House, yesterday.
Below is Minc’s statement in full:
Statement from Aaron Minc, attorney for “Barry One,” referenced in ‘Not That Kind of Girl’ by Lena Dunham
We were gratified to find out yesterday that Random House “regrets the confusion” about Lena Dunham’s false accusation that ‘Barry One’ assaulted her while in college, as was depicted in her memoir, ‘Not That Kind of Girl.’ We also welcome Random House’s offer to pay legal expenses.
However, we remain disappointed and troubled for the following reasons:
We have been contacting Random House and Ms. Dunham since October 6, 2014, seeking an apology and exoneration. Our repeated pleas to handle this quietly and with dignity were met with indifference. It wasn’t until more than $20,000 was raised for Barry’s legal fund – and the attention of John Nolte of Breitbart News Network – that Random House responded yesterday.
Random House has committed a grievous error. It is well known in the publishing industry that copyeditors at major publishers adhere to a well-defined style sheet that stresses the consistent application of a codified set of rules for things like spelling, grammar, abbreviations, etc. It is highly unlikely, therefore, that Random House would have Dunham announce the use of a pseudonym in one portion of the book but ignore the same style rule in another portion of the book. Moreover, as is standard with large publishers like Random House, the publisher’s in-house legal team likely reviewed the manuscript prior to publication to ensure no possible cases of libel could be brought against the publisher or Dunham. If “Barry” were a pseudonym, Random House’s legal department would have had every incentive to urge Dunham to make that clear–as she does elsewhere in the book–to guard against legal action.
False rape accusations are a serious matter. 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 first-hand knowledge who can truly exonerate “Barry One’s” reputation. It is unfathomable to us that she remains silent.
Random House seems to think “(we) regret the confusion” is a real apology. We disagree.
All the above said, we are glad that Random House finally decided to issue its statement yesterday and is agreeing to edit Lena Dunham’s memoir so it is absolutely clear that the name “Barry” is a pseudonym. Our work, however, is not complete. Random House’s offer to foot legal expenses already incurred fails to take into account the fact there are still ongoing legal expense because of their mistakes.
Perhaps most important, Barry and his family are grateful to everyone who has contributed to his legal fund at gofundme.com/ib59bo. Barry has been truly blown away by the overwhelming amount of support and contributions he has received to help him and his family with these unjust circumstances. We will continue to keep the GoFundMe campaign active to raise money for survivors of sexual assaults and for Barry’s ongoing legal expenses until we receive an apology from Ms. Dunham and both Ms. Dunham and Random House have taken all appropriate steps to clear Barry’s name and restore the damage caused to his reputation.