Lena Dunham has issued a joint statement with ‘Girls’ showrunner Jenni Konner defending one of the show’s male writers and executive producers from rape allegations.
Murray Miller, who worked on 52 episodes of Lena’s comedy drama, has been accused of sexual assaulting ‘Passengers’ actress Aurora Perrineau.
According to a police report (via The Wrap), Aurora claimed Miller raped her after a night out in Los Angeles in 2012, when she was 17.
She said in the report: “I woke up in Murray’s bed naked. He was on top of me having sexual intercourse with me. At no time did I consent to any sexual contact with Murray.”
Lena and Jenni have now spoken out against Aurora’s claims, saying they “stand by” Miller as they believe his case has been “misreported”.
They said in a statement (via The Hollywood Reporter): “During the windfall of deeply necessary accusations over the last few months in Hollywood, we have been thrilled to see so many women’s voices heard and dark experiences in this industry justified. But during every time of change there are also incidences of the culture, in its enthusiasm and zeal, taking down the wrong targets.
“We believe, having worked closely with him for more than half a decade, that this is the case with Murray Miller.
“While our first instinct is to listen to every woman’s story, our insider knowledge of Murray’s situation makes us confident that sadly this accusation is one of the 3 percent of assault cases that are misreported every year.”
They added: “We stand by Murray and this is all we’ll be saying about this issue.”
Their statement comes after Miller accused Aurora of trying to extort money from him.
His attorney, Don Walerstein, said in a statement (via The Hollywood Reporter): “After being contacted several weeks ago by lawyers who — on Ms. Perrineau’s behalf — sought substantial monetary damages from him, Mr. Miller’s legal team gathered overwhelming evidence directly contradicting these false and offensive claims.
“Only after her demands for money were rebuffed did Ms. Perrineau go to the police.”
Aurora’s mother, Brittany Perrieau, vehemently denied anyone from her legal team or family had asked for damages, saying in a statement: “At no time have we ever asked Murray Miller for $1. There was never a demand for money ever made from anyone on behalf of Aurora or our family.”
Lena Dunham previously sparked controversy with a tweet she sent about the multiple allegations of sexual harassment levelled at Harvey Weinstein.
She said George Clooney was “more sexually irresistible” for speaking out against Weinstein, and later apologised, saying her comments “missed the mark”.