Lena Dunham Explains Why TSA Confiscated Her Cat Keychain
This is a story about Lena Dunham, the TSA, and cats. The only way we could cram more Internet-friendly content into this thing is if we added some kind of Upworthy-style headline - "I Thought I Understood Airport Security; But Then I Saw This Outrageous Tape of A Celebrity Telling Her Brave Story" - but our blogging software won't let us use titles that long.
"Girls" star Lena Dunham was trying to get through airport security at LAX when she was pulled aside for what she later described to Seth Meyers as a "self-defense keychain" in the shape of a cat. Apparently it's the kind of thing where you slip your knuckles into the metal (maybe the eyes?) and then use the sharp bits (maybe the ears?) to stab another human being. The Seth Rogin Twitter feed subsequently tweeted an illustration for viewers who might have been struggling to form a mental picture.
Things proceeded roughly how you'd expect. TSA officials reportedly proceeded to ask the celebrated writer why she was trying to carry an obvious weapon aboard a flight. Dunham - who says she was scared because "in this country... [t]hey put away the good people and let the bad people go free" - explained that her possession of the obvious weapon was an honest mistake. TSA officials then pulled her aside, ran a background check, and confiscated her obvious weapon. From there she was allowed to go on her merry way.
Dunham says that what got her through this Orwellian ordeal, where she was petrified that TSA agents would "Amanda Knox" her, was that the incident "might be an OK talk-show story."
Celebrities really are just like the rest of us. Here you go:
[Photo: Late Night with Seth Meyers / Twitter]