Lena Dunham, the creator of the HBO series “Girls,” is blasting Kanye West’s new “Famous” music video as “sickening” while calling out the rapper for his misogynistic portrayal of women.
In a lengthy post on Facebook Monday, the writer and producer calls the provocative video “one of the more disturbing ‘artistic’ efforts in recent memory.”
The highly anticipated music video premiered on TIDAL a few days ago and features a host of nude or partially dressed doppelgangers of famous faces lying in bed with West and his wife, Kim Kardashian.
Dunham criticized West’s representation of women juxtaposed against the recent controversial Stanford rape case and the ongoing sexual assault case against Bill Cosby (whose likeness also appears in the video).
She wrote: “Now I have to see the prone, unconscious, waxy bodies of famous women, twisted like they’ve been drugged and chucked aside at a rager? It gives me such a sickening sense of dis-ease.”
Dunham — whose parents, Carroll Dunham and Laurie Simmons, are both artists — goes on to muse: “I know that art’s job is to make us think in ways that aren’t always tidy or comfortable. But this feels different.”
The video starts with a tight shot of West resting next to his spouse before panning out to reveal a topless Taylor Swift look-alike.
Other unconscious celebrity doubles featured in the video include Donald Trump, former U.S. President George W. Bush and musician Chris Brown.
Dunham writes of her despair at seeing close friend Swift, as well as singer Rihanna and Vogue editor Anna Wintour, “reduced to a pair of waxy breasts.”
“It makes me feel sad and unsafe and worried for the teenage girls who watch this and may not understand that grainy roving camera as the stuff of snuff films.”
Some are praising the video. Artist Vincent Desiderio, whose 2008 painting entitled “Sleep” inspired the video, called it “a feat of magic” and praised West’s interpretation of his work in an essay in W Magazine.
Meanwhile, West has defended his latest offering as “a comment on fame” to Vanity Fair.
“It’s not in support or anti any of [the people in the video],” West said.
Dunham ends her post of “disjointed thoughts” by imploring West to find other ways to make a statement without glamorizing the exploitation of women and rape culture.
“Here’s the thing, Kanye: you’re cool. Make a statement on fame and privacy and the Illuminati or whatever is on your mind!
“But I can’t watch it, don’t want to watch it, if it feels informed and inspired by the aspects of our culture that make women feel unsafe even in their own beds, in their own bodies.”
This isn’t the first time West has courted controversy with Swift. The rapper caught some heat back in February when his latest album “The Life of Pablo” dropped and revealed explicit lyrics featuring the beloved pop star: “I feel like me and Taylor might still have sex/Why? I made that b—- famous.”
West declared that Swift had signed off on her inclusion in the song — but she disputes this.
And then, of course, who can forget the time he interrupted the Grammy winner during the 2009 MTV VMAs?