"Girls" star Lena Dunham thought she was being cute and quirky when she responded to Mindy Kaling's tweet asking if she wanted to dress up as the West Memphis Three -- a trio of teenagers who many believe were wrongly convicted of murdering three boys in the '90s -- for Halloween along with B.J. Novak, but managed to offend people instead.
"You guys go as killer Canadian couple Paul Bernardo & Karla Homolka. I'll be her sister they murdered. Scariest! Luv U," she tweeted back at Kaling and Novak, without realizing her words would upset so many people.
The husband-and-wife serial killer duo, Paul Bernardo & Karla Homolka, were convicted of raping and killing at least three teenage girls in the early '90s, including Homolka's younger sister, and Bernardo is suspected of several other unsolved rapes. Bernardo is currently serving a life sentence in prison, while Holmolka was convicted of manslaughter in exchange for her testimony against Bernardo, and served only 12 years in prison.
One Twitter user responded, writing: "@lenadunham your tweet about the murders committed by Homolka and Bernardo is disgusting. I knew one of the victims and you're way offside."
Dunham chose to apologize for her joke, claiming that she didn't realize the murders, which were depicted in the 2006 film "Karla" starring Laura Prepon, were such a sore spot for many people. In a series of tweets she apologized:
"The boundaries of comedy are complicated and I'm learning twitter isn't the place to explain or even test them. I obviously don't find rape or murder funny, rather the concept of a trio of hapless people in poor taste halloween costumes.Generally not a proponent of apologizing for one's work but that tweet wasn't my work-- it was as throwaway as most 140 character thoughts. Obviously didn't understand what a painful part of the Canadian identity the Bernardo/Homolka case was. Saw a TV movie w/ Laura Prepon ... Part of the reason I was so concerned is that I've always dreamed of retiring to Canada #Canadaphile."
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