Feminist fans of Lena Dunham got some disheartening news this week: her website Lenny Letter, which produces content on “feminism, style, health & politics — unfiltered,” is reportedly closing up shop on Friday.
Amid “rumblings” this week about freelance writers being paid “kill fees” for written pieces that haven’t been published, the New York Post learned that Dunham’s website “will cease operations on Friday.” TheWrap confirmed that “emails circulated to contributors” confirmed that the site is shutting down this week.
“The newsletter had always struggled for ad support, according to industry sources, and a series of controversies hasn’t helped,” the Post notes. “Last November, Dunham caught flak when she defended former ‘Girls’ writer Murray Miller after an actress accused him of sexually assaulting her in 2012.”
At its peak, Lenny Letter reportedly had some 500,000 subscribers, but the Post says those numbers “plunged precipitously” since July 2017 and advertisers have “expressed frustration about its inability to drum up meaningful revenue.”
The website catered to a left-leaning feminist audience, featuring pieces such as “Drowning In My Own Estrogen: Why I got a breast reduction at sixteen,” “Finding My Grandmother, One Psychic at a Time,” “Make-Up In Transit,” and articles promoting progressive female candidates.
Dunham rose to fame with her hit HBO series “Girls,” but her recent endeavors — including her new, widely panned HBO series “Camping,” which currently has a 31% on Rotten Tomatoes (11% viewer score), and now the Lenny Letter — have failed to gain traction.
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