Harold & Aurora Perrineau Remind Us That Jenni Konner Lied to Protect Someone Accused of Sexual Assault
Back in 2017, actress Aurora Perrineau accused Girls writer Murray Miller of assault and in response, Lena Dunham and Jenni Konner released a statement to The Hollywood Reporter defending Miller. This was met with huge pushback from social media, general public and celebrities alike, and while Dunham did end up apologizing, Konner has not, and the two women ended their partnership in 2018.
The news came out today via Deadline that Jenni Konner has signed an overall deal with Fox 21 Television Studios, part of Disney TV Studios. This has resulted in people on social media, including Aurora’s actor father Harold Perrineau, bringing Konner’s previous actions into the forefront.
You aware she still hasn’t apologized to my child after publicly shaming her and lying about having any knowledge about my daughters assault? And that the LAPD determined Miller had sexual contact with a minor, but that charge was out of statute?
— Harold Perrineau (@HaroldPerrineau) November 19, 2019
Sending love to you.
Thank you— Aurora Perrineau (@AuroraPerrineau) November 19, 2019
Aurora Perrineau came forward in 2017 with allegations that in 2012, when she was 17 years old, Miller took her and some friends to his residence, where she later woke up with him “having sexual intercourse” with her. That is rape.
“At no time did I consent to any sexual contact with Murray,” she said after filing a police report about the alleged assault. In response to this accusation, Dunham and Konner’s joint statement said:
“While our first instinct is to listen to every woman’s story, our insider knowledge of Murray’s situation makes us confident that sadly this accusation is one of the 3 per cent of assault cases that are misreported each year.”
As for that “insider information,” Dunham eventually admitted that they made up having “insider information” about what happened.: “I didn’t have the ‘insider information’ I claimed but rather blind faith in a story that kept slipping and changing and revealed itself to mean nothing at all. I wanted to feel my workplace and my world were safe, untouched by the outside world.” When the case was brought to the Los Angeles police department it was dismissed, due to statute of limitations.
Part of dismantling patriarchy is also standing up to women who co-sign it. Dunham and Konner had every right to feel how they felt in private, but publically using their feminist platform to call a Black woman a liar in order to defend their white male friend is the definition of a bad look.
Not to mention, the two already have a negative reputation among women of color, Black women in particular, and this just makes me concerned for any future projects Konner will have in the future. Her continued lack of action on this issue makes me wonder if she can be an ally to Black women at all, since she feels so comfortable throwing them under the bus.
I can only hope that having this back in the limelight will force Konner to apologize in some way to Aurora Perrineau, but considering she has already had so much success without needed to apologize, that is sadly doubtful.
(image: Universal Pictures)
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