Actress Lena Dunham offered up a quick apology after joking that she wished she had an abortion.
The "Girls" creator took to her Instagram account on Tuesday to apologize for the "distasteful joke" she made on her recent podcast.
"My latest podcast episode was meant to tell a multifaceted story about reproductive choice in America, to explain the many reasons women do or don't choose to have children and what bodily autonomy really means," Dunham wrote in the caption of her Instagram post.
She went on to say the comment was a reflection of the quirky character she often portrays on television.
"My words were spoken from a sort of 'delusional girl' persona I often inhabit, a girl who careens between wisdom and ignorance (that's what my TV show is too) and it didn't translate."
The controversy started when Dunham said, “Now I can say that I still haven’t had an abortion, but I wish I had,” on her “Women of the Hour” podcast on Tuesday.
She went on to explain that she believed her desire for an abortion would help her become a better women's rights activist.
She recalled an instance at a Planned Parenthood in Texas where a young girl asked her to share her abortion story.
“I sort of jumped. ‘I haven’t had an abortion,’ I told her. I wanted to make it really clear to her that as much as I was going out and fighting for other women’s options, I myself had never had an abortion,” she said.
She then commended women who have had abortions for their bravery in being able to talk about it.
But many fans took to Twitter to express their disappointment in the actress' choice of words.
Dunham concluded her public apology by stating reproductive freedom in America is a topic very close to her heart and that she will "always will be devoted to reproductive justice and freedom."
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