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The Lenny Letter, the feminist website and newsletter created by Lena Dunham and Jenni Konner in 2015, is, as was widely expected and reported this week, will shut down today, the co-creators confirm.
The closure is addressed in an open letter posted on the site and credited to Dunham, Konner and editorial and creative director Molly Elizalde. “While theres no one reason for our closure,” they write, “this change allows for growth and a shift in perspectives — ours and yours.” (Read the entire statement below).
“Be prepared for a day of unmitigated nostalgia!,” Dunham tweeted this morning.
The (once) twice-weekly newsletter is reported to have peaked with about 500,000 subscribers, though numbers dwindled at least through the past year.
The newsletter-website was a holdover from the professional partnership of Girls co-creators Dunham and Konner (their current HBO comedy Camping will apparently be their last). The duo split last June, with Konner telling TV critics at TCA in July that she and Dunham “just want to do different things. Theres no drama to be found there. Its just about the creative process.”
Though its initially had an ad partnership with Hearst, the Lenny Letter entered into a deal with Condé Nast last year. Conde Nast did not respond to inquiries from Deadline.
Here is the message posted today on Lenny:
Dearest Lennys,
When we began plotting Lenny almost four years ago, we were casually referring to this venture as our cool older sister — someone whos been there, done that, someone whos learned from her successes and her failures. But this newsletter has grown way beyond that dream. It was our dearest hope that we could create a space where new voices were safe to speak, and speak loudly. But we didnt create that.
You did.
What you have created — a fiercely passionate community of dedicated readers, writers, and artists — is more than we ever could have asked for. Because, of course, Lenny IS you: every politician, every journalist, every activist, every illustrator, every athlete who shared her words here.
Excuse the nostalgia — were looking back today because this is Lennys final chapter.
In the three years since we began, the Internet has opened up for underrepresented writers in ways we wouldnt have predicted or believed from our 2015 bunker. It was an honor to be part of that brigade, and we cant wait to see how those who forged that path keep holding space after Lenny is gone.
While theres no one reason for our closure, this change allows for growth and a shift in perspectives — ours and yours. But can we ask one favor? Please, continue to push forward the voices that need a platform, the untold stories that deserve to be heard, the diversity that the publishing industry claims to value but has never mastered.
And know (and we know you do!) that, as powerful as storytelling is, its only half the work. What comes after is equally important. Real change-making takes work, and part of that work will come this November. There is nothing more critical to counteracting the daily devastation of the current regime than the midterm elections. Knock on strangers doors, drive people who cant drive themselves to the polls, host a postcard-writing party to encourage unlikely voters, canvas at Taylor Swift concerts. Do whatever it takes.
From endings there inevitably come new beginnings, so in todays issue, were focusing on rebirth. Our own Lenny editors bring you three tales of communities that are refusing to self-destruct and building up instead, from racism, oppression, and climate change, to turn challenges into opportunities:
—Kaitlyn Greenidge meets with the doulas who are fighting against the maternal health crisis for black women.
—Tahirah Hairston travels to Mexico to learn how marine biologists are using in-vitro fertilization to save our coral reefs.
—And Kristine Mar examines the lifeline that prison-re-entry programs like Atlantas Freedom Overground provide for formerly incarcerated LGBTQ people.
We want to thank the three remarkable women above, and everyone who has brought Lenny to life, including the core queens (and one king) Jessica Grose, Ben Cooley, Laia Garcia, Doreen St. Félix, Dianca London Potts, Mikki Halpin, Liz Watson …
And mostly, truly, our readers — thank you for letting us hitch our apple wagon to your star. We trust that Lennys mission to amplify unheard voices and the complexities of the female experience will roar even louder inside (and outside) each of you. Well be keeping our ears to the shell for the sound of your plans in action.
Love always,
Lena Dunham, co-founder
Jenni Konner, co-founder
Molly Elizalde, editorial and creative director
In addition to the website message, Dunham tweeted:
Change is the only way we learn and the only way we stay in touch with our capacity for joy. I am celebrating every aspect of it today, even the ones that hurt (Literally: holes on the body. Figuratively: holes in the heart.)
— Lena Dunham (@lenadunham) October 19, 2018
Be prepared for a day of unmitigated nostalgia!
— Lena Dunham (@lenadunham) October 19, 2018
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