Girls showrunner calls for change in wake of Harvey Weinstein allegations

Former Girls showrunner Jenni Konner added her voice to the thundering chorus demanding change in Hollywood in response to the allegations against Harvey Weinstein.

“Dear Allies,” Konner wrote in a statement posted to social media on Thursday. “Since you were wondering, here is how I believe the Harvey story SHOULD be addressed: Express outrage! Do not be balanced. Be angry! Demand change. Support the women who have come out and the women who have chosen not to. Do not talk about the good work he’s done, it’s not relevant. It’s not your job to tell the story. It’s your job to support the victims and to say in no uncertain terms you will not tolerate this and the people you work with on the sets you work on.”

“This is a critical moment,” she continued. “You can change the course of history with your statement. Be bigger. P.S. When you mention your daughters, it sort of makes it sound like you wouldn’t care if you just had sons. Love, Jenni.”

Weinstein, the disgraced movie mogul behind The Weinstein Company, has decades of sexual harassment allegations lodged at him by various members of the Hollywood industry. After the New York Times‘ exposé, published last week, more women came forward as The New Yorker revealed an audio recording of Weinstein admitting to groping a woman.

Weinstein has since been fired from The Weinstein Co. and is allegedly seeking treatment. The NYPD has launched an investigation into the allegation from Lucia Evans (then Lucia Stoller) that Weinstein forced her to perform oral sex in 2004. (Weinstein has denied any allegations of non-consenual sex.)

Konner’s former Girls colleague Lena Dunham called for the men of Hollywood to condemn Weinstein for his actions.

“The reason I am zeroing in on the men is that they have the least to lose and the most power to shift the narrative, and are probably not dealing with the same level of collective and personal trauma around these allegations,” Dunham explained in an op-ed piece. “But here we are, days later, waiting for Mr. Weinstein’s most powerful collaborators to say something. Anything. It wouldn’t be just a gift to the women he has victimized, but a message to the women who are watching our industry closely. They need a signal that we do not approve of the abuse of power and hatred of women that is the driving force behind this kind of behavior.”