Truth Revolt may face a lawsuit from Lena Dunham over the review of her book "Not That Kind of Girl" and accusations of "experimenting sexually with her younger sister Grace" made within the story. Dunham's lawyers sent a letter threatening legal action, demanding an apology and removing the story.
The four-page letter threatened to sue Truth Revolt, considered by some as a conservative media watchdog, for "millions of dollars" because it damaged Dunham's reputation once the Drudge Report linked to the story and it spread wide, according to The Hollywood Reporter.
Dunham's lawyers also suggested language that Truth Revolt could use in its apology to their client. The watchdog group posted the wording on its website in a story about the letter received.
"We recently published a story stating that Ms. Dunham engaged in sexual conduct with her sister. The story was false, and we deeply regret having printed it. We apologize to Ms. Dunham, her sister, and their parents, for this false story," the apology would read.
Truth Revolt refuses to make such a statement or to withdraw the story from the site. The organization also questioned the lawyers' label of the story as "false and defamatory" considering Truth Revolt used many direct quotes from Dunham's book.
"Lena Dunham may not like our interpretation of her book, but unfortunately for her and her attorneys, she wrote that book - and the First Amendment covers a good deal of material she may not like," Truth Revolt wrote.
The passages highlighted by Truth Revolt included Dunham explaining how at seven years old, she "carefully spread open" her one-year-old sister Grace's vagina. Dunham also wrote that she "took to bribing [Grace] for her time and affection" by doing "anything a sexual predator might do to woo a small suburban girl."
The letter sent by Dunham's lawyers claims the Truth Revolt story contains "outright falsified statements" that are attributed to Dunham's book, according to The Hollywood Reporter.
"The statement do not appear anywhere in the book, thus showing intent to harm, knowing falsity as well as reckless disregard for the truth, any one of which meets the malice requirement," the letter states.
Dunham did release a statement about the interpretation of her book and stated she does not "condone any kind of abuse under any circumstances. The author confirmed she did not publish anything about her sister without her sister's approval.
"Childhood sexual abuse is a life-shattering event for so many, and I have been vocal about the rights of the survivors," Dunham said in her statement to Time magazine. "If the situations described in my book have been painful or triggering for people to read, I am sorry, as that was never my intention. I am also aware that the comic use of the term "sexual predator" was insensitive, and I'm sorry for that as well."
