Lena Dunham issues a hollow apology for defending a 'Girls' writer accused of rape

Following serious backlash, Lena Dunham is walking back a previous statement made in support of Girls writer Murray Miller, who's been accused of raping then-17-year-old actress Aurora Perrineau when he was 35.

After The Wrap's initial Friday report on the allegations, Dunham and Girls co-creator Jenni Konner sent a joint statement to The Hollywood Reporter that called the allegation "misreported."

"We believe, having worked closely with him for more than half a decade, that this is the case with Murray Miller," the statement reads. "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."

As Mashable noted on Friday, just last month Dunham was outspoken in her support for the women producer Harvey Weinstein is accused of sexually harassing and assaulting. And as the BBC noted, she tweeted the following just last August: "Things women don't lie about: rape."

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Her recent display of support for victims of sexual abuse make Dunham's Friday statement – the unnecessary public defense of a man accused of rape – all the more disappointing.

On Saturday, in the face of backlash, Dunham issued a lukewarm apology to "any women who have been disappointed." The statement does not address Perrineau directly, and does not offer her an apology.

Rather, Dunham writes that she regrets the timing of her initial statement, and then offers a few vague words of support for "every woman who comes forward."

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Dunham is, as many have pointed out, known for making controversial statements and then aggressively backpedaling on those statements in the face of backlash. Need a few examples? Twitter's got you:

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