Lena Dunham has apologized for the white privilege that has enabled her to achieve Hollywood success at a young age, saying that from now on, she promises to “sit down” and “shut up, unless it’s to advocate for change for Black people.” The Girls star also pushed slavery reparations and defunding the police.
Lena Dunham tweeted her contrition after being blasted earlier this week by Star Wars: Episode I – The Phantom Menace actor Ahmed Best, who called her out for landing Girls at HBO at the age of 23. “The Hollywood system is rigged in favor of white people,” she said, adding that “my career took off at a young age with relative ease, ease I wasn’t able to recognize because I also didn’t know what privilege was.”
Dunham promised to subordinate herself to black people and to “make art in private for awhile.”
“The lesson now? Sit down. Shut up, unless it’s to advocate for change for Black people. Listen. Make art in private for awhile- no one needs your book right now lady. Give reparations widely. Defund the police. Rinse & repeat.”
Whenever I find out I’m trending, I have to immediately check if I’m alive! Then, I try and see if there’s a constructive dialogue to have on Twitter. Often there isn’t, but today there really WAS. (Thread)
— Lena Dunham (@lenadunham) June 29, 2020
The past ten years have been a series of lessons. The lesson now? Sit down. Shut up, unless it’s to advocate for change for Black people. Listen. Make art in private for awhile- no one needs your book right now lady. Give reparations widely. Defund the police. Rinse & repeat.
— Lena Dunham (@lenadunham) June 29, 2020
Dunham’s apology comes after actor Ahmed Best, who is black, dissed the actress for successfully pitching her series to HBO with neither a plot nor a character. “I walk into pitches with a fully realized bible pilot and seven season arc, and often times told it’s not enough. But Lena Dunham, cool,” he tweeted.
Best played Jar-Jar Binks in 1999’s The Phantom Menace.
I have a masters degree in film and teach film at a top tier university, An over twenty five year professional career and I walk into pitches with a fully realized bible pilot and seven season arc, and often times told it’s not enough. But Lena Dunham, cool. https://t.co/E530jn5EJw
— Ahmed BEst (@ahmedbest) June 28, 2020
Lena Dunham grew up among New York’s cultural elite. Her father is the renowned visual artist Carroll Dunham. Her mother, Laurie Simmons, is a filmmaker and artist.
Dunham is part of a growing list of celebrities who have publicly advocated for the defunding or the total abolition of the police. Other celebrities who have advocated for stripping police departments of public funding include Natalie Portman, John Legend, Susan Sarandon, Lizzo, Gabrielle Union and Trevor Noah.
Follow David Ng on Twitter @HeyItsDavidNg. Have a tip? Contact me at dng@breitbart.com
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