Lena Dunham has apologised for her initial defense of Murray Miller, the "Girls" writer accused of sexual assault by actor Aurora Perrineau.
News of the accusations broke on Friday and, Dunham and "Girls" co-showrunner Jenni Konner issued a statement supporting Miller.
"While our first instinct is to listen to every womans story, our insider knowledge of Murray's situation makes us confident that sadly this accusation is one of the 3 per cent of assault cases that are misreported every year," they had said in a statement.
However, her defense of Miller provoked backlash on social media, with many pointing to an August tweet of Dunham's, where she wrote: "Things women do lie about: what they ate for lunch. Things women don't lie about: rape."
Dunham posted a lengthy statement on Twitter to apologise for her initial defense of Murray.
"Every woman who comes forward deserves to be heard, fully and completely, and our relationship with the accused should not be part of the calculation anyone makes when examining her case.
"Every person and every feminist should be required to hear her. Under patriarchy, 'I believe you' is essential. Until we are all believed, none of us will be believed. We apologise to any women who have been disappointed," she wrote.
Dunham said she never thought that she would ever issue a statement publically supporting someone accused of sexual assault, but she "naively believed it was important to share my perspective on my friend's situation as it has transpired behind the scenes over the last few months. I now understand that it was absolutely the wrong time to come forward with such a statement and I am so sorry.
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