At the Golden Globes 2015 red carpet show, Girls auteur Lena Dunham told host Ryan Seacrest she deleted her Twitter because “I’m trying to create a safer space for myself emotionally.” She called Twitter “the dark side of the Internet.” Not inaccurate!
“People, like, threaten my life and tell me what a cow I am,” she said.
She called her haters “deranged neocons telling you you should be buried under a pile of rocks.” (This is what she’s referencing.)
Lena Dunham still has an active Twitter presence. Maybe she was kidding, or maybe she just got a team of social media assistants (yes, that’s a real thing) to publish promo for Girls season 4 every now and then.
Update: She took to Twitter to clarify her comments.
I deleted Twitter from my phone and sometimes send a tweet to a friend I trust to post if I'm out and about and wanna share
— Lena Dunham (@lenadunham) January 12, 2015
We gotta create systems that make us feel safe. Sorry I confused you aka who cares 🍇
— Lena Dunham (@lenadunham) January 12, 2015
I wouldn’t blame Dunham if she took an extended social media break. She wasn’t just being dramatic; her Twitter mentions are filled with invective. Looking through a Twitter search of her name, I’d guess about 75 percent of her mentions are accompanied by phrases like “shut up” or “skank” or criticism of her dress and her weight. And that’s nothing compared to the frequent accusations that she sexually abused her sister.
Ryan Seacrest responded to her Twitter quip by saying, “You should see what they say about me.” It likely wouldn’t faze her.
I don't love Ryan Seacrest then saying, "You should see what they say about me." She gets it worse, Seacrest. #GoldenGlobes
— Kate Aurthur (@KateAurthur) January 11, 2015
Hopefully we can get back to what really matters soon enough.
https://twitter.com/lisarinna/status/554429468136071168
Photo via sxyaya/Flickr (CC BY 2.0)