Lena Dunham has finally responded to claims she made up a story about being raped by an acquaintance in college, detailed in a passage from her new book Not That Kind of Girl, and she's sticking by her story. The star and creator of HBO's Girls, wrote an essay on Buzzfeed to address reports claiming to have identified a man named 'Barry' who matched the descriptions of the man who raped her after a party when she was attending Oberlin College nearly a decade ago. The man interviewed by Breitbart and the National Review denied the claims, saying he never even met Dunham during their time at the Ohio liberal arts college.
@highlight
Lena Dunham used her book to describe how 'Barry', a 'flamboyant Republican', raped her at Oberlin College
@highlight
After the book was published this fall, some publications  fact-checked Dunham's account and found a man with the same name and descriptions
@highlight
That man said he never even met Dunham at school
@highlight
Dunham has now written an essay for Buzzfeed, saying she changed the name of her attacker and never meant to identify him
@highlight
She also apologized to an Oberlin alumnus named Barry, who Breitbart and National Review said matched the rapist's description
The publisher acted as soon as it became public that @placeholder, with the help of his lawyer, had set up a legal fund to defend his reputation and has already raised nearly $24,000.