Lena Dunham defended herself against allegations that she molested her younger sister when they were children that arose from anecdotes described in her new book Not That Kind of Girl.

Critic Accuses Lena Dunham Of Abusing Her Sister

Dunham’s memoir, Not That Kind of Girl, is a bestseller, but not all critics have been praising Dunham’s first literary effort. A critic for the National Review, Kevin D. Williamson, alleged in his critique that Dunham’s privileged upbringing and eccentric parentage facilitated Dunham’s “sexual abuse” of her younger sister.

“Lena Dunham’s sexual abuse, specifically, of her younger sister, Grace, the sort of thing that gets children taken away from non-millionaire families without Andover pedigrees and Manhattanite social connections. Dunham writes of casually masturbating while in bed next to her younger sister, or bribing her with ‘three pieces of candy if I could kiss her on the lips for five seconds…anything a sexual predator might do to woo a small suburban girl I was trying.’ At one point, when her sister is a toddler, Lena Dunham pries open her vagina,” Williamson wrote.

Williamson points to a passage in the book in which Dunham describes bribing her sister for affection and a separate passage in which a young Dunham asks her mother about the female reproductive system.

Williamson’s interpretation of Dunham’s writing inspired another article, published on the right-leaning website TruthRevolt, titled “Lena Dunham Describes Sexually Abusing Her Little Sister.”

Lena Dunham Speaks Out

Dunham spoke out against the stories on Twitter, calling the allegations “really f—king upsetting and disgusting.”

Ben Shapiro Ignores Dunham's "Cease & Disist" Letter

In addition to her Twitter response, Dunham reportedly sent a cease and desist letter to TruthRevolt, and the website responded with yet another article, calling Dunham a “bully” and essentially daring her to file a lawsuit against them. “If Ms. Dunham says that our quotations from her book were ‘false,’ or that our interpretation of those events was libelous under the law, then we look forward to asking her, in her deposition, about why they appeared in her book,” wrote TruthRevolt Editor-in-Chief, Ben Shapiro.

“Bullies like Ms. Dunham may believe that firing off legal threats against those who exercise First Amendment rights is perfectly legitimate. But for a woman who proclaims to be an advocate for freedom of speech to attempt to shut down such speech based on her own apparent embarrassment at her own disclosers in her own book demonstrates the totalitarianism of those on the left – and those in the legal and media establishment who enable them,” Shapiro continued.

Many culture critics and celebrities have supported Dunham and spoken out against these articles. Jimmy Kimmel even tweeted about the allegations, calling them “vile.”

Article by Olivia Truffaut-Wong

Olivia Truffaut-Wong was born and raised in Berkeley, California, where she developed her love of all things entertainment. After moving to New York City to earn her degree in Film Studies, she stayed on the East Coast to follow her passion and become an entertainment writer. She lives on a diet of television, movies and food.