LOS ANGELES, Nov 20 — Girls creator Lena Dunham has apologised for defending a writer on her show who was accused of sexual assault.

Dunham had been widely criticised after she and fellow Girls showrunner Jenni Konner insisted on Friday that writer and producer Murray Miller had been falsely accused of raping actress Aurora Perrineau in 2012 when she was 17.

Miller has "categorically and vehemently” denied the claim.

The pair issued a statement on Friday supporting their friend and claiming that the allegations were "one of the 3 per cent of assault cases that are misreported every year.”

Yesterday, Dunham backtracked on her initial assertions, saying that "every woman who comes forward deserves to be heard, fully and completely.”

"I naively believed it was important to share my perspective on my friend’s situation,” Dunham tweeted.

"I now understand that it was absolutely the wrong time to come forward with such a statement and I am so sorry.”