Lena Dunham Apologizes For ‘Distasteful Joke’ On Abortion, ‘I Still Haven’t Had An Abortion, But I Wish I Had’

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Lena Dunham revealed a bizarre “wish” to listeners on a podcast this week. Dunham wished she had an abortion as a way to channel an authentic form of political activism, according to Entertainment Tonight. After being slammed on Twitter by users who called her “sickening,” Dunham took to Instagram on Tuesday and apologized for her statements. Lena is now claiming her remarks were a “distasteful joke” from a “delusional girl.” Dunham previously told listeners on the “Women of the Hour” podcast that she was asked to share an abortion story for a Planned Parenthood project in Texas, but she never had an abortion.

Dunham was slammed on Twitter by users calling her “offensive” for wishing she had an abortion in order to be a better women’s right’s advocate. Many advocates spoke out and said Dunham is trivializing the procedure.

“One day, when I was visiting a Planned Parenthood in Texas a few years ago, a young girl walked up to me and asked me if I’d like to be a part of her project in which women share their stories of abortions… I sort of jumped. ‘I haven’t had an abortion,’ I told her. I wanted to make it really clear to her that as much as I was going out and fighting for other women’s options, I myself had never had an abortion.”

Dunham’s comments came a few days before Salon published a list of “TV’s 10 Best Abortion Moments of 2016.” Lena’s show was not included on the list. Commentary by Whoopi Goldberg of ABC’s The View and Samantha Bee of TBS’s Full Frontal were spotlighted.

“And I realized then that even I was carrying within myself stigma around this issue… Even I, the woman who cares as much as anybody about a woman’s right to choose, felt it was important that people know I was unblemished in this department. […] I feel so proud of them for their bravery, for their self-knowledge, and it was a really important moment for me then to realize I had internalized some of what society was throwing at us and I had to put it in the garbage. Now I can say that I still haven’t had an abortion, but I wish I had.”

One Twitter user told Dunham she can be a feminist and support Planned Parenthood without wishing to go through an abortion procedure.

In September, Dunham apologized for making presumptions about the NFL athlete Odell Beckham due to his disinterest in her when the two shared a table at the 2016 Met Ball. Dunham said it was “amazing” how he looked at her and immediately determined she wasn’t the “shape of a woman by his standards.” Dunham said Odell wasn’t mean or anything, he just appeared confused by her.

“It was so amazing because it was like he looked at me and he determined I was not the shape of a woman by his standards. He was like, ‘That’s a marshmallow. That’s a child. That’s a dog.'”

Fans then accused Dunham of perpetuating racist stereotypes about an athlete without striking up a conversation.

My story about him was clearly (to me) about my own insecurities as an average-bodied woman at a table of supermodels & athletes.

— Lena Dunham (@lenadunham) September 2, 2016

Dunham went to Twitter to apologize for projecting her physical insecurities on Odell simply because he wasn’t interested in her.

Lena Dunham publicly defended Taylor Swift during her Kanye West drama and had a lot to say about West’s controversial “Famous” music video. Dunham said the music video made her feel “sad” and “worried” for teenage girls who could potentially view the video. Lena voiced her discomfort with the video and called the imagery “disturbing.”

Dunham said she was void of a “hip” or “cool” reaction to the video, a reaction that the “Life Of Pablo” rapper may have anticipated from viewers when he strategically placed nude celebrities like Bill Cosby alongside others controversial celebs like President-elect Donald Trump.

“…Because seeing a woman I love like Taylor Swift (f*** that one hurt to look at, I couldn’t look), a woman I admire like Rihanna or Anna, reduced to a pair of waxy breasts made by some special effects guy in the Valley, it makes me feel sad and unsafe and worried for the teenage girls who watch this and may not understand that grainy roving camera as the stuff of snuff films.”

[Featured Image by Nicholas Hunt/Getty Images]