Earlier today, Gawker got our Mondays started off with some proper outrage at a recurring target of scorn and contempt in Girls creator and star Lena Dunham, who is preparing to begin her widely-publicized book tour tomorrow. As the New York Times previously reported, Dunham had issued a casting call for all kinds of performers to join her for the tour in support of her book “Not That Kind of Girl,” and everyone from gymnasts to whatever the hell sand artists are (I’m praying they’re painters dressed like Tusken Raiders) answered with the hopes of getting some exposure on the tour that people have been paying as much as $500 to attend. The outrage, however, was over the fact that these performers were being asked to provide their services pro bono.
As Gawker’s Hamilton Nolan pointed out, Dunham has made quite a nice sum of money from this book, so the fact that she was basically asking for some performance interns had fists of rage shaking at monitors all across the Internet. With the tour set to begin tomorrow, Dunham caught wind of the growing resentment, and she took to Twitter a few hours ago to let everyone know that we can chillax, because she’s going to pay her performers now.
As an artist raised by artists, no one believes more than I do that creators should be fairly compensated for their work.
— Lena Dunham (@lenadunham) September 29, 2014
Some good points were raised and I've ensured that all opening acts will be compensated for their time, their labor and their talents.
— Lena Dunham (@lenadunham) September 29, 2014
The fact that Gawker pointed this out really proves Judd Apatow's saying that "a good note can come from anywhere."
— Lena Dunham (@lenadunham) September 29, 2014
In Dunham’s defense, though, she shouldn’t have to pay the sand artists, because those people track their art all over the place, and once it’s in the carpet it’s impossible to get out.
