Actress Lena Dunham has revealed that she regrets performing at a benefit for then-presidential candidate Hillary Clinton that was backed by The Weinstein Company.
In an op-ed published by The New York Times on Monday, the former star of HBO’s ‘Girls’ said she had ‘heard the rumors’ about Weinstein, and felt that performing at the 2016 benefit was ‘a betrayal of my own values’, but ‘made a calculation’ to attend regardless.
Dunham is just one of several actresses – including Meryl Streep, Glenn Close and Kate Winslet – who have publicly denounced the media mogul amid the mounting reports of sexual harassment.
Weinstein maxed out his political contributions to Clinton with a $5,400 check to her 2016 campaign and $30,000 to her Hillary Victory Fund.
Actress Lena Dunham (pictured, October 2016) has revealed that regrets performing at a benefit for then-presidential candidate Hillary Clinton that was backed by The Weinstein Company
Weinstein maxed out his political contributions to Clinton with a $5,400 check to her 2016 campaign and $30,000 to her Hillary Victory Fund (Clinton, left, and Weinstein pictured at the TIME 100 Gala in April 2012)
‘I wanted so desperately to support my candidate that I made a calculation. We’ve all made calculations, and saying we’re sorry about those calculations is not an act of cowardice,’ Dunham, who was a staunch Clinton supporter, wrote.
‘It’s an essential change of position that could shift the way we do business and the way women regard their own position in the workplace. I’m sorry I shook the hand of someone I knew was not a friend to women in my industry.’
The actress also called out the film producer for petitioning to have the charges against film director Roman Polanski dropped.
In the op-ed, Dunham recalled being sexually harassed by an unnamed director last year and noted that she has heard stories from victimized women ‘at a rate that feels positively dystopian’.
‘Beyond these bold-name cases, ignoring bad behavior remains the signature move of men in Hollywood,’ she wrote.
‘Last year, I was sexually harassed by a director of a show…and the response by the powers that be was to defend him, question the women ferociously and take ages before letting him go from the network.’
Dunham recalled her own sexual harassment and said she had heard stories from victimized women ‘at a rate that feels positively dystopian’ (Pictured, left to right, Uzo Aduba, Julia Roberts and Dunham at The Hillary Victory Fund Stronger Together Concert in October 2016)
Dunham is just one of several actresses – including Meryl Streep, Glenn Close and Kate Winslet – who have publicly denounced the media mogul amid the mounting reports of sexual harassment. Clinton has remained silent (Weinstein, left, and Clinton in October 2004)
Weinstein (pictured, September 2016) was fired from The Weinstein Company on Sunday evening following the expose published by The New York Times on Thursday
Weinstein was fired from The Weinstein Company on Sundayfollowing the backlash from The New York Times’ expose published Thursday that detailed decades of sexual harassment allegations made against Weinstein by actresses and employees.
In a statement, the company’s board of directors announced his firing Sunday night, capping the swift downfall of one of Hollywood’s most powerful producers and expelling him from the company he co-created.
An attorney for Weinstein didn’t immediately return messages.