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Tribune News Service
Tribune News Service
Kate Feldman

'Girls' writer Murray Miller's lawyer retracts claim that rape accuser demanded money

Attorneys for Murray Miller, the "Girls" writer who was accused of sexual assault, no longer claim that the alleged victim demanded money from him.

"Jem and the Holograms" star Aurora Perrineau accused Miller of raping her in 2012, when she was 17 years old.

Perrineau claims she had been drinking with friends at L.A.'s Standard Hotel when Miller began flirting with her.

She and her friends went home with Miller that night.

"At some point, I woke up in Murray's bed naked. He was on top of me having sexual intercourse with me. I freaked out and was extremely upset and traumatized. At no time did I consent to any sexual contact with Murray," Perrineau, who filed a report with the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department in November, said in a statement at the time.

Miller denied the allegations and his lawyers claimed that Perrineau "sought substantial monetary damages from him."

The attorneys, Donald Walerstein and Matthew Walerstein, have no retracted that claim.

"In a previous statement to the media, we stated that Ms. Perrineau sought substantial monetary damages from our client Murray Miller. Neither Ms. Perrineau nor her attorney have ever made a demand for money," they said in a statement to Variety.

"Our previous above statement was incorrect and the result of a good-faith misunderstanding."

"Girls" creator Lena Dunham and showrunner Jenni Konner initially defended Miller.

"During every time of change there are also incidences of the culture, in its enthusiasm and zeal, taking down the wrong targets. We believe, having worked closely with him for more than half a decade, that this is the case with Murray Miller," they said in a statement.

"While our first instinct is to listen to every woman's story, our insider knowledge of Murray's situation makes us confident that sadly this accusation is one of the 3 percent of assault cases that are misreported every year. It is a true shame to add to that number, as outside of Hollywood women still struggle to be believed. We stand by Murray and this is all we'll be saying about this issue."

She later apologized for "naively (believing) it was important to share my perspective on my friend's situation."

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