Justice

Lena Dunham Shares Why Kanye West's New Video Is Unsafe for Women

June 27th 2016

On Monday, Lena Dunham shared her thoughts on Kanye West's new and controversial video for the song "Famous," in a Facebook post reported by Vulture.

Dunham acknowledged that the video — which was inspired by Vincent Desiderio's painting "Sleep," and pans across a bed of naked celebrity look-a-likes including Taylor Swift, Anna Wintour, Amber Rose, Donald Trump, George W. Bush, and Bill Cosby — intended to make a statement on fame and privacy. West, of course, has a long history with Swift. He famously crashed her 2009 VMA’s acceptance speech. The track “Famous” itself refers to their complicated past, with West bragging that he and Swift “might still have sex” because he “made that bitch famous.”

But the "Girls" star also believed its imagery evoked date rape and sexual violence.

Dunham Kanye FB PostFacebook/Lena Dunham - facebook.com

Dunham explained that she found "Famous" particularly troubling due to its timing.

The video dropped shortly after Brock Turners's sentencing for sexual assault, and amid conversations about the allegations that Cosby drugged and assaulted unconscious women.

Lena Dunham Kanye PostFacebook/Lena Dunham - facebook.com

It is also worth mentioning that West tweeted this in February:

Shortly after releasing the video, West tweeted — then deleted — a remark joking about the possibility of those depicted in the video taking legal action against him.

For his part, a representative of President George W. Bush told TMZ that Bush did not appear in the video and was "in much better shape" than his "Famous" doppleganger.

On Facebook, Dunham explained that while she greatly respected West, his wife, and the Kardashian family, she was unsettled by the way "Famous" treated its female subjects — which seemed to paint violations of privacy and violations of consent in a single, broad stroke.

Kanye Lena Dunham FB postFacebook/Lena Dunham - facebook.com

You can read Dunham's full post below, and on Facebook.

[H/T Vulture]

Share your opinion

Do you agree with Lena Dunham?

No 25%Yes 75%