Lena Dunham on 'Girls' Backlash: Handjobs Angered Viewers More Than Walter White

Lena Dunham says audiences in 2012 were "angrier at us for just being girls who sometimes give hand jobs on TV than they are Walter White or Tony Soprano." She made the remark on Thursday evening during a conversation with Allison Williams at Swarovski's store in New York City, ahead of HBO's five-episode revival of "Girls."

Dunham and Williams told the audience they are still adjusting to a shift in public sentiment toward the show. "We are not used to the way people feel about the show now," Dunham said. "It's a daily surprise." Williams echoed her: "I don't know how many people in the room watched it in real time, but if you didn't, I've got to tell you something: We are not used to the way people feel about the show now."

When "Girls" premiered in 2012, Dunham and her co-stars drew sustained criticism over the show's explicit sex scenes and its portrayal of privileged young women navigating their twenties in New York City. Dunham framed that hostility as selectively aimed at young women rather than at male antiheroes.

Williams recalled one target of the attacks directly. "There was a website called Gawker, which, fuck it forever," she joked, referring to the now-defunct gossip blog known for biting celebrity takedowns. "They referred to us as our dads' daughters in the articles that covered the show. They didn't even call us by our actual names." Williams is the daughter of former NBC anchor Brian Williams; Dunham is the daughter of artist Carroll Dunham.

What has changed for the revival?

Dunham said the reception has turned. "People are understanding, and people like the idea that young women would be naughty and complicated and weird and self-aware," she told the audience. "They recognize that you could potentially be a woman under 25 and have some modicum of self-awareness."

She also revealed the order of her calls when the revival came together. Williams was her first call — "before HBO, before anyone" — to ask about joining the project. "It started with us and it ends with us!" Dunham said. "And I was nervous when I called you because she's a busy mom and producer and iconic Scream Queen and she might not want to return." Williams starred in the 2025 horror film "Scream 7," though the source does not name it.

HBO first confirmed the revival plans earlier this month. The production details confirmed so far:

• Five episodes, produced for HBO
• Production scheduled to begin in 2027
• Dunham reprising her role as Hannah Horvath
• Williams returning, alongside Jemima Kirke as Jessa Johansson, Zosia Mamet as Shoshanna Shapiro and Andrew Rannells as Elijah Krantz
• Judd Apatow returning as executive producer

The revival arrives at a moment when the original series' once-contested premise — flawed young women behaving badly on screen with full self-knowledge — has moved from scandal to expectation, and the 2027 production start will test whether that goodwill carries back to HBO's screens.