Gawker Claims Lena Dunham’s Alleged Rapist Is a Democrat

Using an early book proposal submitted by Lena Dunham that contains vastly different details about her alleged rapist than what was eventually published in her memoir “Not That Kind of Girl,” Gawker claimed Tuesday to have found Dunham’s alleged rapist and reports that the man in question is a registered Democrat.

In her memoir Dunham goes to great lengths to inform readers that her rapist was a prominent Oberlin College conservative and Republican.

Gawker buries this startling revelation under somewhere around 30 paragraphs and 1800 words all written in defense of Dunham against Breitbart News and other right-of-center news outlets.

To do what little is possible to protect this man’s identity, Breitbart News is redacting the man’s name in the excerpt below and not linking directly to the Gawker piece:

There is at least one discrepancy between the proposal and what we know about [the alleged rapist identified by Gawker], however. According to public records, [this man] did not affiliate with either major political party until 2012, when he formally registered as a Democrat. Unlike the character in Dunham’s memoir, he does not appear to have ever been an on-the-book Republican—though it’s certainly possible he identified as one without ever filing the proper paperwork.

Gawker published the man’s full name despite the fact there is no proof the details in Dunham’s book proposal are any more reliable than the false flags in her memoir that pointed many members of the media, and anyone with Google, to the man Breitbart News calls Barry One (to protect his identity), an innocent family man who never even knew Dunham.

For six weeks Lena Dunham remained silent after Barry One publicly professed his innocence. For two months Random House remained silent after Barry One’s attorney, Aaron Minc, asked the publishing giant to clear his client’s name.

It was only after Breitbart News published its in-depth investigation proving Barry One’s innocence, and that not a single detail Dunham published to describe her rapist stood up to scrutiny, that Random House finally cleared Barry One’s name. The next day Dunham herself cleared Barry One and apologized for the “surreal coincidence” that placed him under suspicion.

In what was advertised as a non-fiction memoir, Dunham’s “surreal coincidence” resulted in her publishing 7 unnecessary details about her alleged rapist that connected directly to Barry One. In the memoir her rapist…

1. Is named Barry.
2. Was an Oberlin College graduate.
3. Attended Oberlin at the same time she did.
4. Was a Republican.
5. Was a prominent campus Republican.
6. Worked at a school library.
7. Was a super senior (a 5 year-student).

All 7 of those characteristics lead directly to Barry One — a high-profile campus Republican whose time at Oberlin overlapped with Dunham’s.

A close reading of the Gawker article shows that only  5 identifying characteristics in Dunham’s early book proposal point to the man Gawker chose to name, fewer than those that led to Barry One. This is a large part of our motive for protecting his name.

Like some others in the media, Gawker falsely insinuates Breitbart News has questioned Dunham’s claim of being a rape victim.

 

Follow John Nolte on Twitter @NolteNC