Lena Dunham has issued an apology for comparing criticism written about her on the Internet to domestic violence.
Speaking during a Tuesday interview with Re/code to promote her newsletter Lenny, for which she recently interviewed Hillary Clinton, Dunham compared her detractors to perpetrators of violence against women.
The HBO showrunner admitted this week she no longer runs her own Twitter account, saying Twitter, “really, truly wasn’t a safe space for me.”
She revealed to Re/code Tuesday she no longer reads Gawker, or the feminist blog Jezebel, because the site published un-retouched photos from her Vogue magazine shoot in February, according to PEOPLE.
“I used to read Gawker and Jezebel in college and be like, ‘I can’t wait to get to New York where my people will be to welcome me.’ And it’s like, it’s literally, if I read it, it’s like going back to a husband who beat me in the face – it just doesn’t make any sense,” said Dunham during the interview.
Tuesday, Dunham issued an apology on her Instagram page for the comparison, which she admitted made light of domestic violence.
“In a recent interview I compared reading certain websites that have repeatedly insulted me to returning to a physically abusive husband again and again. When I heard my own quote I was like ‘Jesus, Lena, no.’ I wasn’t making a joke about domestic violence–I was over emphatic in my attempt to capture how damaging the Internet can be.”
Dunham added: “When I first discovered the world wide web as a teenager it felt like salvation. I’ve met a lot of my best friends there. It’s allowed for so much magic. But it also makes room for so much hate and a new kind of violence.”
She concluded, “I’m not the first to say it. I shan’t be the last. But I regret that earlier comparison because it doesn’t accurately describe the condition of being attacked online AND it appears to make light of domestic violence, which ain’t my style. Sleep tight and thank you for the @lennyletter love today.”