“Lena Dunham says Justin Bieber’s new song promotes rape culture” links

Justin Bieber

Lena Dunham is busy fending off a throng of angry teens after saying Justin Bieber‘s “What Do You Mean?” promotes rape culture. [Dlisted]
Cindy Crawford & Julia Roberts posed with their kids at an event. [LaineyGossip]
Farrah Abraham‘s dad is writing a tell-all book about her. [Starcasm]
Rihanna wore a fug prom dress to promote her new perfume. [Moe Jackson]
Amanda Seyfried wore a black-and-white Valentino dress. [Go Fug Yourself]
Miranda Kerr posted her sandy bikini butt on Instagram. [The Blemish]
Alessandra Ambrosio went braless in a satin green top. [Celebslam]
Brandi Glanville let her son pump gas & it didn’t work out. [Reality Tea]
The working title for The Avengers seems accurate. [Pajiba]
This guy rescued his BBQ ribs from a fire, and he’s so happy. [Uproxx]
Ryan Gosling could change up his look. Dude’s getting tedious. [A Socialite Life]
Nicki Minaj has said many honest things about being a woman. [Buzzfeed]
Bill Murray explains why he gave in for a Ghostbusters 3 cameo. [Evil Beet]

Lena Dunham

Photos courtesy of WENN

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68 Responses to ““Lena Dunham says Justin Bieber’s new song promotes rape culture” links”

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  1. Tilly says:

    Justin ‘sings’ what he’s told to – and it doesn’t surprise me; shock value culture is here to stay unfortunately as it gets people talking.

  2. jinni says:

    That’s pretty rich considering she wrote a book were she practically revels in the fact that she molested her sister. His video is f-ed up though ( how is kidnapping your girlfriend ever considered a cute way to surprise her? Who were the geniuses behind that fail of an concept?), but she’s really not one to talk.

    • Pamela says:

      YES! Came here to say the same thing. She needs to take a seat.

    • V4Real says:

      Over the years I’ve seen prank shows were people were faked kidnapped., men and women. Nothing new here.

    • YeahYeahYeah says:

      Pot meet kettle!

      • Pmnichols says:

        Seriously! I don’t care what the book says, she never denied the molestation story, and why didn’t she….to sell more books??? She’s revolting.

    • littlestar says:

      Have you read her book? I read it this weekend and no where in the book did she actually talk about molesting her sister. She wrote about how she struggled to get her sister’s attention when they were younger and making her sister kiss her as children, but there was no molestation going on. It was blown of out of proportion imo.

      I can’t believe I’m saying this, but I’m definitely a Lena Dunham fan now after reading her book. I used to find her super annoying, now I like her after exposing myself to her actual work, and not what the media says about her.

      • Nickers says:

        I completely agree. I read her book and was shocked at how out of context the media was taking her statements. When she would bribe her sister to let her kiss her or lay on top of her it was to get the adoration she expected came with having a little sister, it was not sexual at all and Lena was like 6-8 during that time.

        The other one was that she looked at her sisters vagina when she was a baby and again, Lena was between 6-8 and she looked at it out of curiosity because she was just learning about female anatomy.

        Everyone’s family and experiences are different so to some people this would be so weird but to call her a child molester? That’s messed up.

        So tired of media purposely trying to get people riled up over nothing. Give me real stories please.

      • Ronda says:

        I dont know how anyone could defend those two quotes:
        “Three pieces of candy if I could kiss her on the lips for five seconds. Whatever she wanted to watch on TV if she would just “relax on me.” Basically, anything a sexual predator might do to woo a small suburban girl I was trying.”

        and

        “I shared a bed with my sister, Grace, until I was seventeen years old. Her sticky, muscly little body thrashed beside me every night as I read Anne Sexton, watched reruns of SNL, sometimes even as I slipped my hand into my underwear to figure some stuff out.”

      • FLORC says:

        Don’t look downthread…. Misinformation is wildfire here.

        I looked into that stuff of her book and interviews and other interviews… etc…
        She certainly admits to curiosity, but also manipulating her sister to do what she wanted. It’s a fine line and it did continue as they grew.
        I won’t call her a molester, but it’s behavior that would concern me as a parent enough to have a discussion and stop any furthering… The manipulation is the red flag.

      • Mytbean says:

        I’ve not read the book but based on quotes I’d say – imagine if she were a boy and did these things with her sister…

      • SamiHami says:

        You probably read a later printing of the book. My understanding is that the original run had the truly awful stuff in it, but it was removed from subsequent printings because people were so offended by it. I may be mistaken, but I know I read that somewhere.

      • Chaz says:

        @Littlestar
        You have probably read the new and improved version of her book.
        The first print..well..
        Those aren’t the actions of a sexually curious child. The paying of treats to be allowed to kiss, look, touch and relax upon a child is not the behaviour of a sexually curious older child. It is grooming. Personally I wonder why no person has ever asked what or whom she was exposed to herself to think those actions were normal. That isn’t an excuse but children are over-sexualized for a reason or know how to groom because they have experienced the same.
        I think the real reason her memories are often downplayed is her gender. If this were a brother and sister people would be shouting about it from the rooftops, but because she is a girl it is put into the curious category.

    • Jib says:

      I agree. She has ZERO credibility talking about any kind of sexual improprieties. The cluelessness never fails to stun me.

  3. Bonnie says:

    Lena Dunham is just gross. She should talk, this from someone who molested her sister? STFU.

  4. Kaye says:

    Lena Dunham looks very different. I looked up older images, and it appears she’s on her second nose job (at least). Anyone else see it?

    • Nina says:

      YES! I noticed it, too.
      I thought it was maybe the haircut (it’s a bad haircut) but I didn’t look for too long because she repulses me, to be honest. She thinks she can call out a “song promoting rape culture” when she was so happy to talk about molesting her sister? Don’t make me laugh.
      (Then again, she is part of Taylor’s squad, of course she’s have something negative to say about Bieber.)

  5. Kitten says:

    This is a good place for me to shamefully admit that out of sheer boredom and morbid curiosity, I recently binge-watched all of Girls.

    It was an odd experience because I actually did laugh out loud during the first few episodes but as most had warned me, the show gets progressively more rage-inducing as each season passes. The Marney character alone…I had to hide my cats because I was scared they might get injured after I hurled a vase at my TV screen.

    My question is, what kind of a feminist creates possibly the WORST female characters of all time? I mean truly TERRIBLE, wholly unlikable characters without one redeeming quality. Does she have that low of an opinion about us that she would center her show around women who are entirely without depth, incapable of self-reflection or growth in any way, shape or form?

    Conversely, the show features well-written male characters, who actually develop in a meaningful and interesting way. In fact, Adam Driver was the only reason I was able to continue my hate-watch of the series. He’s fantastically talented IMO.

    On a personal note, when my BF found out I was watching Girls, he was disgusted. He said “Lena Dunham is hideous in both appearance and personality”. No comment about her appearance, but her show didn’t make me like her more.

    • jinni says:

      I have never seen the show, but aren’t the characters supposed to be based off of real people in her life/ from her social circle? That probably explains a lot about her and why she comes across the way that she does in interviews.

      • Kitten says:

        Really? Interesting….I wondered about that. I know someone here once said that she hired friends from high school to play the characters on the show. That would also explain a lot about her and her choices.

        Although it doesn’t seem like you have the inclination, def. don’t watch the show. It’s f*cking stupid and rather insulting to women.

    • theotherCleo says:

      I binge-watched Girls this past winter when I was in bed with the flu and I ended up asking myself the same question. ALL the female characters are awful and not in a “terrible people but very well written” kind of way, they’re just completely uninteresting, unlikable, and have nothing in common with the young women I know (I’m 23). The male characters are the only good ones. And we’re supposed to believe that Lena Dunham is some kind of “feminist icon” because the show has four female leads and she takes her clothes off in every episode.

      • Kitten says:

        I’m glad I’m not alone in my thinking!

        “ALL the female characters are awful and not in a “terrible people but very well written” kind of way”

        Yup.

      • lucy2 says:

        Good evaluation!
        I watched only the first season, and decided I hate the characters way too much to continue, plus Lena was starting to get annoying off the show too.
        I like a “terrible but well written” character. Boyd Crowder on Justified? LOVED him, and he was awful, but brilliantly written and acted. The “Girls” are just obnoxious.

      • Kitten says:

        I’m almost angry that you mentioned Boyd Crowder here, Lucy. He’s too good for this thread! 😉

      • FLORC says:

        Nothng better than a well written, but bad character. Great actor to pull that off too.

        Nothing but pity for them boys on Girls. They put up with so much crazyness.

      • Jib says:

        I, too, love a well-written terrible human being. Denny Crane comes to mind immediately. What a jerk!! But funny and very well written. But then again, Lena Dunham is no David Kelley.

    • doofus says:

      Kit, I TRIED to watch and couldn’t get into it. such vapid, unlikable and annoying characters…yes, the FEMALE ones. I don’t think I even got through one ep fully…but did see part of a few eps…and they all seemed the same to me.

      wish my bf had the same view as yours…my bf seems to really like the show and, now that you’ve clarified the diff between the male and female characters, I understand why. 🙁

      • Kitten says:

        I can completely see how that would happen to you, Doofus. The Marnie (ey?) character is so completely unlikable it was almost painful to watch her. Even worse to see her cute-but-pathetic BF pine over her.

        If there’s one silver lining, it’s that I discovered A. Driver. I never would have known about him otherwise but now he’ll be on my radar.

      • WinnieCoopersMom says:

        @Kitten – Marnie is so bad, esp in the most recent season. She is so insecure and has no self-awareness. The singer she gets with, all kinds of no. What are the writers thinking? Ugh. And Jessa is equally bad. There is only one season left to come out before they end the show and I will hatefully watch just to see how they wrap the characters and storylines..my only hope for the girls lies with Shoshanna. Ugh.

    • Kate says:

      Kitten I completely agree!!! I binged on Girls to see what the hype was… At first some of it was funny, like really LOL moments.. Now I’m over it and Lena. I feel slightly embarrassed for the people she based those characters on, if they were her friends

      • Kitten says:

        Right? I was surprised at how funny it was and at first I was like “this actually isn’t bad!”….but that changed pretty quickly.

        I started to think of it like a SATC for twenty-somethings except I remember the characters on SATC having moments of redemption, vulnerability, and overall likability. Am I wrong? I will admit that there wasn’t necessarily a ton of personal development or growth, but that’s more appropriate for career women in their thirties, you know? I don’t know…

      • ell says:

        SATC was just downright awful, imo. I think it got popular only because the theme was groundbreaking, but the characters were far worse than in girls imo. carrie annoyed me in particular, because she was meant to be in her 30s but she basically acted like some of friends in their 20s, at their worst. it’s easier to excuse hannah’s shortcomings because you hope she won’t be like that at 35, but carrie had NO excuse.

    • littlestar says:

      Kitten, I read her memoir this weekend……….. And I actually really really enjoyed it (I found it funny and cute, and as someone in her age range, related to her quite a bit). And I find myself not despising her anymore. And thinking she’s someone I could be friends with. I need help, right? LOL.

      • Kitten says:

        Littlestar_you’re in good company in the sense that I openly admitted that I watched her show, even though I’m well-aware of the criticisms of her.
        I want to like her because she’s a successful young woman, but her character Hannah grates on me. Interesting that her memoir changed your mind about her though and I do think she’s capable of being quite funny.

    • Keaton says:

      “Conversely, the show features well-written male characters, who actually develop in a meaningful and interesting way. In fact, Adam Driver was the only reason I was able to continue my hate-watch of the series. He’s fantastically talented IMO.”

      I felt the exactly same way! I find it so STRANGE that the one really compelling character on a show written by a woman is a male character. I think it’s partly Adam Driver’s talent but the writing plays a huge role in this too: He’s definitely the best WRITTEN character. Go figure.

      • Kitten says:

        Yes Adam was by far the most interesting character but even Ray turned out to be a really good-hearted and relatively-complex guy.
        Just so odd juxtaposed against the one-dimensionality of the female characters. The only thing that changed about them over the course of five seasons is that they all got better jobs.

      • WinnieCoopersMom says:

        Kitten – I agree that Ray was still a better written character than any of the girls. I need for him and Marnie to end up together, that would be the one redeeming quality for her. I also liked Marnie’s bf from season 1 (and season 2?) that had the successful startup. He put her in her place bc of how ridic she is. Her character – and Lena’s – so cringe worthy.

    • ell says:

      lmao so did I! I binge watched it recently. tbh on the one side I found it refreshing to see female characters being completely obnoxious but somewhat still relatable; male characters can be horrible and still liked all the time, so to see female characters in this position was a welcomed change.

      trouble is, it gets tiring because the writing isn’t overall all that good. it feels chaotic, incomplete and just badly done at times. and while I think most characters have consistent arcs, I find jessa to be written all over the place, and not in the sense of the character is all over the place, but that he writing for her is just crap.

    • Bridget says:

      The show was actually kind of funny in the first season, where you know that they’re *supposed* to be awful people, and that Dunham is in on the joke. But I couldn’t make it past episode of the second season, it was so bad.

  6. claire says:

    Lena’s really overthinking this.

    • Meowsy says:

      I know right, its like many of the people who are saying the song is about rape have never been in a relationship where mixed signals happened. In my last relationship I was confused all the time and so was my partner, I can’t be the only one. Not everyone in the world has perfect communication skills when they’re dating.

  7. Melissa says:

    As much as I loathe defending Justin Bieber, she’s not even close on this one. Fame whore is just making up things to be outraged about.

    Also, she needs to clean up her own kitchen before commenting on someone else’s. Even if it’s Justin F’ing Bieber.

  8. Lk says:

    Will there be Loki in the new Avengers? That’s all that matters to me.

    • Ankhel says:

      I wish, but it seems they introduce new enemies with each Avengers movie. The next Thor movie is a better bet.

  9. ashley says:

    Lena is a troll. Justin is an idiot,but his video had nothing to do with rape.

  10. teacakes says:

    even a stopped clock is right twice a day, and she isn’t wrong. I absolutely despise her, but she’s not wrong.

    This “no doesn’t really mean no” bullshit is a classic example of rape culture at work, and that rodenty little twerp who put his voice to it and promoted it deserves to be called out.

    • claire says:

      But the song lyrics are specifically about mixed signals being sent and asking what they mean? So, in theory, that’s the communication you would actually want to have happen. Yes?

      • InvaderTak says:

        That’s what I got too. He is asking because he wants to know. And I didn’t see it as being sexual necessarily, just two people trying to communicate.

  11. Bethie says:

    What the hell are those shoes?

  12. Josefa says:

    I’m team Bieber on this one. I can’t believe I’m team Bieber on anything, but here I am. Thank you, Lena Dunham. Ugh.

  13. JB11322 says:

    If she really wants to make a point about the promotion of rape culture she could/should go after Chrissy Hyde…but that would take balls.

  14. meme says:

    Shut up and SIT DOWN, Lena Dumbham. You’re one to talk after molesting your baby sister. I abhor this woman.

  15. Lauren says:

    I saw the interview he gave to Ryan Seacrest about this song and it is not about rape. Can’t believe I am defending Justin but he said the song was about relationships where the person never truly tells you what they want. He described being screamed at on the phone before going out to perform and receiving angry texts from ex girlfriends aka Selena so yeah the push and pull from someone was confusing.

    Lena can shut up. She is the last person who should be calling people out about rape when she has done some downright disgusting things to her little sister. She is reaching with this one.

  16. Patricia says:

    All I can say is it’s so nice to see Lena continuing in her vialant effort to take a perfectly normal face and body and make them look as unattractive as possible. Bravo for never giving up on being nasty, Lena!

  17. SavageGrace says:

    There is nobody on this planet that I hate more than this vomit-inducing piece of trash. And I now hate her even more for making me want to defend Justin Bieber. Barf.

  18. Rockin Robin says:

    This skeezer has alot of nerve! I can’t stand Justin, but she has ALOT of nerve.

  19. Jayna says:

    I can’t stand Lena and have never watched her show. The song doesn’t promote rape culture. Dramatic much?

  20. Vampi says:

    Lena creeps me out. For MANY reasons. We all have someone who we think has a “punchable face”, and a lot of that has to do with personality. In any event..I want to punch her face. Yeah, I’m not so evolved I guess. Don’t curr. She needs a nice hot steaming cup of STFU! Nasty human.

  21. Katie says:

    Lena Dunham is a total buzzkill. Does she just troll the internet looking for things to be offended by?

  22. Tiffany says:

    Avril and Nickleidiot are done. I am SHOCKED…that it took this long to announce it.

  23. Laura says:

    Not a huge fan of Justin, but I really enjoy his new song, “What Do You Mean?”. Lena grosses me out.

  24. My Two Cents says:

    Why didn’t she comment on any of the other thousands of rap songs and videos out there that promote all kinds of horrid acts? Unfortunately, the industry is rampant with this music. It’s what sells today. Its not an indication of what’s wrong with the songs, its an indication of what’s wrong with our society. Looks like she needs to worry more about herself and less about Justin or anybody else.