Social media users are accusing feminist trailblazer Lena Dunham of kissing Hollywood actor Brad Pitt without his consent.
In a photograph taken Wednesday during the London premiere of director Quentin Taratino’s latest flick, “Once Upon a Time … in Hollywood,” Dunham, 33, appears to be trying to kiss the 55-year-old Pitt, who is not making eye contact with the actress.
Pitt stars in the film as stuntman Cliff Booth. Dunham, meanwhile, has a smaller role as Manson family member Catherine Share.
Last week, ahead of “Once Upon a Time … in Hollywood’s” debut in theaters, Dunham tweeted: “It’s not every day I get to wear a mumu, go barefoot, flirt with #BradPitt, and join a cult… as a job.”
Many Twitter users, however, didn’t view her red carpet interaction with Pitt this week as mere flirting.
This is so wrong! Sexual harassment goes both ways, @lenadunham you’re just as bad as @HarveyWeinstein! #metooformen
— JavaBakeGirl (@get_yo_sweet_fx) August 1, 2019
Several commenters averred that obtaining affirmative consent, a hot-button issue in the wake of the #MeToo movement, should cut both ways.
MORE: Lena Dunham Blames ‘the Patriarchy’ for Making Her Lie to Discredit Rape Accuser
“Ew. Lena Dunham just keeps getting worse,” wrote one user. “If *any* man did this to a woman on a red carpet, they’d be publicly pilloried and likely lose their job. Instead Lena Dunham gets a cutesy article full of praise & compliments for her ‘balls of steel.’ Gross.”
Couldn't agree more. How hypocritical can someone be?
— Zachary Keyser (@zakkeyser) August 1, 2019
“If this is accurate- and Lena Dunham attempted to kiss Brad Pitt on the lips without consent, call it what it is: sexual assault/harassment. Not ‘surprise.’ Not amusing. Not ok,” another tweeted.
Lena Dunham, polarizing feminist figure
Dunham, creator of the groundbreaking millennial “Girls” TV series, was once held up as a feminist icon.
But in more recent years, even fellow feminists have questioned Dunham’s status as the voice of millennial feminism.
Last year, actress Tessa Thompson called Dunham out after the latter posted a picture to Instagram in support of the #MeToo-adjacent #TimesUp movement.
Dunham was merely coattail-riding a movement with which she’d had little involvement, Thompson opined.
“Lena was not anywhere present in our group during the countless hours of work for the last two months,” she said in a comment on social media.
And in November of 2017, Dunham provoked the ire of fellow liberals and progressives by defending “Girls” writer Murray Miller from accusations of sexual assault made by actress Aurora Perrineau.
MORE: Lena Dunham Says Goodbye to Brooklyn Hipsters Who Judge Her ‘Infertility and Loneliness’
Writing in liberal outlet Vox that same month, culture journalist Constance Grady argued that Dunham had failed to live up to the most basic tenets of the feminism she espoused.
“For a self-proclaimed feminist, Dunham’s actions were not a good look, to say the least,” Grady wrote. “The structure of our society and legal system is so stacked against victims of sexual assault that believing the victims is a basic pillar of feminism: If we live in a world where the standard response to sexual assault is to find a way to demonstrate that the victim was somehow asking for it, the basic argument goes, the least feminists can do is tip the balance the other way by giving victims their support as a default.”
