One year ago, Congress defunded public media. Now that we're 100% community funded, please become a sustaining member or increase your existing membership today.
This is an archival story that predates current editorial management.
This archival content was written, edited, and published prior to LAist's acquisition by its current owner, Southern California Public Radio ("SCPR"). Content, such as language choice and subject matter, in archival articles therefore may not align with SCPR's current editorial standards. To learn more about those standards and why we make this distinction, please click here.
Lena Dunham Accused of Racism...Again
Lena Dunham (Instagram)
Back when "Girls" first aired on HBO, creator Lena Dunham was accused of racial bias, what with her entirely white cast. Now, the writer/director/actress is facing the same accusations, following a comment she made on The Howard Stern Show.
According to The Hollywood Reporter, Dunham went on the show to smooth over tensions created when Stern called her ""a little fat girl who looks like Jonah Hill." She responded by saying that "I'm not super-thin...But I'm thin for, like, Detroit."
It seemed like she was just commenting on the fact that most of America doesn't have the same standards for thinness as places like New York and Los Angeles, but some people didn't take it so lightly.
Yesha Callahan, a writer for BET's talk show "Don't Sleep!", suggested that because Detroit isn't known for being predominantly white, Dunham was making a statement about the size of African-Americans in general.
"Detroit isn’t known for its population of white people," Callahan told THR. “She doesn’t want to be judged for her size, so she shouldn’t judge an entire city on theirs."
One year ago, Congress voted to defund public media, eliminating a critical $1.7 million from our budget every year going forward. But they couldn’t silence us, and we’re not going anywhere. LAist is now 100% community funded and that means we’re taking our future into our own hands and turning to you to keep local reporting strong.
You come to LAist because you want independent reporting and trustworthy local information. Our nonprofit newsroom doesn’t answer to shareholders looking to turn a profit. Instead, we answer to you and our communities. We are free to follow facts wherever they lead and to hold power to account without fear or favor. Our only loyalty is to our readers and listeners and our mission: to inform, engage, and strengthen Southern California’s communities.
If this story helped you, please become a monthly member today to help sustain this mission. It just takes 1 minute to donate below.
You come to LAist because you want independent reporting and trustworthy local information. Our nonprofit newsroom doesn’t answer to shareholders looking to turn a profit. Instead, we answer to you and our communities. We are free to follow facts wherever they lead and to hold power to account without fear or favor. Our only loyalty is to our readers and listeners and our mission: to inform, engage, and strengthen Southern California’s communities.
If this story helped you, please become a monthly member today to help sustain this mission. It just takes 1 minute to donate below.
Senior Vice President News, Editor in Chief
