Free Republic

RUSH: Look at this Lena Dunham situation. Lena Dunham, who was a heroine to the pop culture in this country, she's an absolute star. She's got this HBO show called Girls, so popular, so hip, so cool that Obama used her in a campaign commercial in the War on Women back in 2012. What is she, 17 years old? I know she's in her twenties. She's got an autobiography. Oh, yes, she has an autobiography. You know what the prominent event in her autobiography is? Yeah, she was raped by a conservative Republican. Right. She was raped by a conservative...

Yesterday we covered the ongoing soap opera of the immensely unattractive and monumentally untalented Lena Dunham’s bogus rape accusation. Long story short: she accused a college classmate of raping her, she clearly identified the alleged rapist which has caused him a lot of difficulties, now her publisher is paying the man’s legal expenses and altering future editions of the book to emphasize that the name is a pseudonym. Basically, this is the type of careless and narcissistic behavior Dunham has raised to an art form. Now she takes to the friendly pages of journalistic paragon BuzzFeed to continue to push...

In a story published on BuzzFeed, Lena Dunham slammed anyone who questioned the details of her alleged rape and implied that those who do are part of a massive conspiracy to further anti-woman agendas. The article, called "Why I Chose to Speak Out," slams anyone who questions her story. The fact that she accused someone of rape, she explains, means that her account is completely accurate and if you question it, you are a misogynist. In other words, accusing someone of rape is the equivalent of proving they raped you. Recounting her thoughts when writing a nationally-published book available to...

This week, Rolling Stone printed an editor's note retracting one of the most highly praised pieces of investigative journalism in its history. That piece, written by Sabrina Rubin Erdely, alleged that several members of the University of Virginia fraternity Phi Kappa Psi, had raped a 19-year-old student named Jackie, including with foreign objects, as she lay on a floor covered with broken glass. The article resulted in the university suspending the fraternity's activities, and national outrage over the so-called "rape culture" on campus. That rape culture supposedly leads to one in five women being sexually assaulted on campus -- a...

Lena Dunham writes an essay for BuzzFeed responding to the controversy over a passage from her memoir describing a sexual assault during her college years. It has been almost a decade since I was sexually assaulted. It took me a long time to fully acknowledge what had happened and even longer to discuss it publicly, in the form of an essay in my book Not That Kind of Girl. When I finally decided to share my story, it had ambiguities and gray areas, because that’s what I experienced, because that’s what so many of us have experienced. As indicated in...

As I noted last week, Lena Dunham’s memoir describes her having sex with someone named Barry, whom she labels as Oberlin’s “resident conservative.” Her description seems to leave it somewhat ambiguous as to whether Barry raped her, but it does describe some sexual behavior by Barry that at the very least reflects badly on him; readers have certainly viewed it as rape, and Dunham has elsewhere characterized it as rape. There are two passages in which she describes the incident: one in which it comes across as consensual but unsatisfying, and another one that she begins by saying,

Wikipedia editors are intentionally scrubbing any criticism regarding Lena Dunham and her false accusations of rape against "Barry" during her time in college. The concerted effort can be seen in multiple places; the most obvious, is Dunham's page itself, which has no mention of the controversy. But it is not because some lesser-users did not try to include Dunham's actions. In the "history" section of "Not That Kind of Girl's" page, there are attempts to mention the controversy. Higher-ups, however, scrubbed these changes and reverted the page to its previous form. Even changes saying that some have her claims have...

If you needed any more proof of media bias, Google Lena Dunham. About the only news hits you’ll see go to John Nolte’s blistering investigative reporting on dubious parts of Dunham’s allegations of rape published at Breitbart (Powerline also has this piece). Apart from a single Washington Post mention, Dunham’s dubious story of her rape at Oberlin College by a college Republican (naturally) is nowhere to be found in any legacy news outlet, particularly those that have spent the last few years fawning over her.To recap: Dunham’s new book has a detailed story of date rape by one “Barry,”...

It has been more than four days since Breitbart News published a detailed investigative report debunking Lena Dunham's claim in her memoir that, as an Oberlin college student, she had been raped by a mustachioed campus Republican named Barry. Thus far, the reaction from Ms. Dunham and her numerous representatives has been total silence, despite inquiries from numerous media outlets. The afternoon prior to publishing our report, Breitbart News reached out to Dunham and her publisher with a detailed message left for Dunham's publicist at Random House. We left the same message for the person described as the publicist's back-up....

This isn't another case of shaming-the-victim-into-silence. Dunham's story about being raped has been demonstrated to be provably false, and the accused has a viable libel case against her (see here and here).From Chicks on the Right (bold emphasis is mine): Liberals really know how to sell books.  There's apparently a market for writing about molesting your little sister and how some "Republican named Barry" raped you at Oberlin College.  At the tune of an almost $4 million advance....Anywho, Lena wrote about some guy named "Barry, a Republican" from Oberlin College, who she claimed raped her.  And since the book came out a...

(... Now in order for there to be a vast and vibrant market for any good and service a higher purpose has got to be served. Let’s look at the important things that we get from having all those false rape accusations out there dominating the media sphere. (1) Careers can be made! Look at the return on investment that Al Sharpton has gotten out of his profitable collaboration with Tawana Brawley. (Crystal Mangum and Mike NiFong met with less success. Read the prospectus carefully before investing!) (2) Evil men are made to live in fear! The Breitbart story has...

The man identified as "Barry One" in a Breitbart News investigation debunking Lena Dunham's story of being raped in college by a "mustachioed campus Republican" named Barry, has made his first official statement since the release of that report. Through his attorney, identified as Aaron Minc, Barry One has set up a legal fund to cover current legal expenses, clear his name, and to potentially file suit against Ms. Dunham. The proceeds from the legal fund will be used only to cover Barry One's legal expenses. If there are any leftover monies, those will be donated to non-profit organizations that...

Breitbart has done an INVESTIGATION and has found that the rape charges that Lena Dunham hurled against an Oberlin college Republican named "Barry" are completely unsubstantiated. There was a "Barry" at Oberlin who fits some, but not all, of Dunham's description but he is definitely not the rapist. Unfortunately, "Barry," who can easily be found via Google now has the false finger of Dunham accusing him of rape. I believe he has strong grounds to take action against Lena Dunham. So what would you recommend for punishment? Here are my suggestions: 1. All copies of Dunham's books, Not That Kind...

A reader writes: I think … VC/Wapo readers (including those sympathetic to Ms. Dunham) would be interested in your thoughts on whether Barry “One” (as the … Breitbart article refers to him) has a potential cause of action against Lena Dunham and/or Random House for negligence, [intentional infliction of emotional distress], false light, libel, whatever (assuming he can prove that he did not rape or otherwise have sex with Ms. Dunham as described in her memoir). At least to me, the question of whether an author can be held liable (consistent with the First Amendment) for intentionally or unintentionally (but...

A media investigation into the allegations of rape featured in Lena Dunham's recently-released memoir has refuted the claims of sexual assault made by the Girls creator. The writer, actor and director dedicates a chapter of her book, Not That Kind Of Girl - for which she received a reported $3.7 million advance - to a boy she met at Oberlin College in Ohio identified as 'Barry', who she alleges raped her one night after a party.

In her just-released memoir, Not That Kind of Girl, Lena Dunham describes her alma mater, Oberlin College, as "a liberal arts haven in the cornfields of Ohio." After a month-long investigation that included more than a dozen interviews, a trip to the Oberlin campus, and hours spent poring through the Oberlin College archives, her description of the campus remains the only detail Breitbart News was able to verify in Dunham's story of being raped by a campus Republican named Barry.

Radical liberal feminism — the kind that likes abortion on demand and taxpayer-funded birth control — has been rejected at the polls. Or, at least, it’s been a really rough week, or so. And I’m not just talking about the fact that Sen.-elect Cory Gardner effectively pushed back on the “war on women” narrative by defeating Colorado’s ”Mark Uterus.”The story also played out in Texas, where — writing about the race — Mollie Hemingway observed: “Wendy Davis was the face of ‘War On Women’ Politics. How’d that go?” And it played out in California, where Sandra Fluke lost a bid for...

Lena Dunham is now threatening to sue the right-wing website which last week published an article claiming she sexually abused her little sister when they were children. The claim is based on an excerpt from the Girls star and creator's new book, Not That Kind of Girl, and details how she once looked at her sister Grace's vagina when her sibling was a year old and she was seven. Lena defended the action as innocent childhood exploration based on curiosity, but the website Truth Revolt called the memory 'unsettling' and disturbing'. Since then, she has been in a war of...

For the second time in a week, Lena Dunham has come out to discredit claims she sexually abused her little sister, which were based on a childhood story published in her recently released book Not That Kind of Girl. In a statement to Time magazine on Tuesday the creator and star of HBO's Girls says she is 'dismayed' over how the website Truth Revolt interpreted the essay about looking at her then year-old sister Grace's vagina out of curiosity when she was seven. 'First and foremost, I want to be very clear that I do not condone any kind of...

Lena Dunham is reportedly threatening to sue the right-wing website which last week accused her of sexually abusing her little sister Grace when they were children. In the wake of the allegations, the creator and star of HBO's Girls, has cancelled two stops on her book tour scheduled this week in Belgium and Germany for health issues. On Monday, she tweeted that she was 'deeply sorry' to miss the Antwerp Book Fair and a signing in Berlin, adding that she's 'so grateful for your energy and support'.