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Lena Dunham Cancels Lenny Tour

She cited health concerns as the reason for the cancellation

by Eric Shorey

Lena Dunham's popular newsletter Lenny has gained a cult following since its creation. Dunham had planned to bring some notable contributors to the project on a small tour, but serious health issues have gotten in the way. In a characteristically personal post on the letter's site, Dunham explains what's going on and what led to her decision.

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“My body, which I’ve worked through all kinds of pain for many years, just doesn’t have what it takes to do this tour. Lenny is about giving 100 percent of ourselves, 100 percent of the time, and I couldn’t bear to limp through this," she writes.

“To be perfectly honest, I’m in the greatest amount of physical pain that I have ever experienced,” she says, giving more details. “After being told I was endometriosis-free after my last procedure, more disease was found in deeper spots that required immediate surgery and now physical therapy. This disease is wily and unrelenting, and I’m really blessed to have a community, both online and IRL, who let me express how hard that is. Inspired by you, I’m gonna say ‘Eff you’ to embarrassment and walk the walk of a woman who really takes care of herself. My goals have to be simplified for this moment: to write and to heal.”

According to Dazed Digital, the Lenny tour was supposed to include Sasheer Zamata, Katie Crutchfield of Waxahatchee, Chloe Caldwell, Jenny Zhang, author Kaitlyn Greenidge, and Jaqueline Novak, along with a handful of other guests. Dunham will be offering refunds on tickets sold and hasn't yet announced plans to reschedule her gigs.

Dunham has been open about her struggle with endometriosis on social media. Earlier this month, she posted a picture from the hospital on Instagram. In the caption, she explained what was going on with her body and advocated for the support of organizations who help the less fortunate handle these situations: "To those in that privileged spot-never forget that we are blessed and can pay it forward by supporting Planned Parenthood and LGBTQ clinics like Callen-Lorde," she wrote. "Everyone who's anyone knows that if you can battle chronic illness there's nothing you can't take on."