Lena Dunham explains why she came forward with sexual assault in book, says 'Barry' was pseudonym for attacker

Lena Dunham and her book, Not That Kind Of Girl, was at the center of another controversy this week, which centered on a sexual assault she recounted from her time at Oberlin College in Ohio. She wrote a follow-up essay about the passage and tried to clear up the issue surrounding it.

In the book, Dunham wrote that she was assaulted sexually by a Republican named “Barry One” during her time at the college. Conservative site Breitbart posted a detailed piece last week, which suggested that Dunham had misidentified her attacker, since there was a real Barry who attended the school while Dunham was there.

Later, TheWrap received a statement from publisher HarperCollins, which said that “Barry” was just a pseudonym Dunham used in the book. The publisher apologized for the confusion and even offered to pay the fees the real Barry would have paid to his attorney, Aaron Minc.

Minc and his client actually started a GoFundMe page to pay for his legal fees. So far, they have raised over $25,000 of his $100,000 goal.

“Our offer will allow Mr. Minc and his client to donate all of the crowd-funding raised to not-for-profit organizations assisting survivors of rape and sexual assault,” HarperCollins said. Future printings of her book will also make it more clear that “Barry” is not the name of Dunham’s attacker.

Today, Dunham published an essay at BuzzFeed to explain why she told her story. She also stated again that the “Barry” name was just a pseudonym and apologized.

“Survivors have the right to tell their stories, to take back control after the ultimate loss of control,” Dunham wrote. “There is no right way to survive rape and there is no right way to be a victim. What survivors need more than anything is to be supported, whether they choose to pursue a criminal investigation or to rebuild their world on their own terms. You can help by never defining a survivor by what has been taken from her. You can help by saying I believe you.”

Dunham is the star and creator of HBO’s Girls, which returns next month.

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