Lena Dunham Calls in to Howard Stern, Is a Great Sport About "Little Fat Girl" Crack

Howard professes his love for Lena and Girls, series' star and creator jokes that she's "thin for, like, Detroit"

By Natalie Finn Jan 17, 2013 1:29 AMTags
Lena DunhamJason Merritt/Getty Images

Howard Stern and Lena Dunham might just be kindred spirits yet!

At the shock jock's behest, the Golden Globe-winning Girls star called in to The Howard Stern Show this morning to hear the Sirius-XM Radio host eat his words—and, in so doing, she proved even further what a darn fine sport she is.

"I was thinking out loud," Stern explained himself to the writer-actress, nine days after bashing her looks and her scene-stealing ways on Girls. "That's what I do, I just kind of ramble on."

He then realized, he said, that after watching three more episodes of Girls, "Not only am I addicted, but I totally get you. I'm in love with you and your character...So I came in and said to Robin, on the air, ‘I changed my mind. I love the show. And I love Lena and I love what she's doing with it.'"

"It's not about apologizing," he added, "although I want to say I'm a fan of yours...I love you and I think you're terrific."

Stern had also talked up Dunham's scheduled call earlier in the morning, saying, "I have an opportunity to say, 'Hey, Lena. I watched your show and I hated it at first, but I stuck with it and now I love it. That's the story. And, yeah, I was disturbed by you naked, and now I like when you're naked. I don't know, I had a change of heart."

Dunham had already publicly laughed off Stern's pre-Golden Globes crack about her being a "little fat girl who kind of looks like Jonah Hill," and Stern expressed regret over his comments on Monday, calling himself a converted Girls "superfan."

But, though she kept a cool head, Dunham didn't exactly love the radio icon's rough description of her.

"I'm a big fan of your particular brand of free speech," she reiterated. As for the dig about her weight, however, she protested, "I'm not that fat, Howard. I don't mean to take major issue with you about this. I'm not super thin, but I'm thin for, like, Detroit!"

"You're not obese or anything," Stern offered, immediately realizing how that sounded.

"Howard Stern says I'm 'not obese or anything!'" Dunham said, mock-gratefully. "This is all coming out horribly," protested Stern.

"I appreciate it and I appreciate your effort to rectify," Dunham assured him. "But whether you'd done that or not, I'd have remained a [Stern] enthusiast."