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All the most controversial moments from HBO's 'Girls'

The provocations and controversies surrounding HBO's "Girls" quickly turned it into one of the most argued-about shows on TV.

25. Girls (2012-17), six seasons

“Girls” has had quite a cultural impact throughout its six-season run. The HBO show was one of the first glimpses of millennial life for a wider audience. Following the worst recession since the Great Depression, creator Lena Dunham used this show as an opportunity to expose how a particular segment of a particular generation really felt, and how their lives were completely different from generations before them.

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Along with the struggles of finding a job and choosing a career to stick to, “Girls,” which premieres its sixth and final season Sunday, explores how this generation approaches relationships in ways we're not used to seeing on TV.

The storylines and depth of the lives of sexually active (some more than others) twentysomethings in New York City came with many praises, but also plenty of controversy and media handwringing.

Here are the most controversial things to happen throughout "Girls" so far:

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The "whitewashing" of New York

Back when the show premiered in 2012, it received glowing reviews from critics and audiences alike. But there was one problem that critics and audiences noticed. For a show taking place in New York City, one of the most diverse cities in the United States, the show was certainly lacking it: Its entire cast was white. The backlash against the show’s “whitewashing” continued well into its first season.

Allegations of nepotism against the stars

As the show got more popular, so did the actors. And the main cast wasn't always welcomed with open arms, as it was revealed that the women all had some kind of connection to the entertainment industry through their parents.

Lena Dunham's mom is a famous artist. Zoisa Mamet is the daughter of playwright, screenwriter, and director David Mamet (he wrote "Glengarry Glenn Ross," among others). Allison Williams is the daughter of Brian Williams, former NBC news anchor. And Jemima Kirke's dad is the former drummer of the rock band Bad Company.

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Their media connections felt like much more than a coincidence to a lot of people.

Marnie’s scandalous bathroom time

In episode three of the show’s first season, Marnie (Allison Williams) has a full-on masturbation scene in a public restroom. The scene was bold on its own, but especially bold for the early days of a new series.

Williams told Vulture, “I’m sort of fascinated that it’s being made into a thing, because I just looked at it as a part of my job. There were scenes that were more difficult for me to do than that one, and it’s interesting to me that people are fixating on it. I mean, little Sally Draper in 'Mad Men' did it before me, so listen — I’m just entering her territory.”

Adam's gross shower with Hannah

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In the season-one episode “Weirdos Need Girlfriends, Too,” Adam (Adam Driver) pees on Hannah (Lena Dunham) while they’re in the shower together.

This wasn't as controversial as it was shocking: Adam was already established as the episode’s titular weirdo, but the show was building up some charm in him. Just when he finally became a likable character, he peed on Hannah and grossed her out, along with viewers. But Hannah stuck with him, whereas most people probably would've run far, far away.

The supposed stunt casting of Donald Glover

In response to the whitewashing accusations in season one, Dunham told NPR, "I take that criticism very seriously... As much as I can say [writing four white main characters] was an accident, it was only later as the criticism came out, I thought, 'I hear this and I want to respond to it.'"

In the season-two premiere, actor/comedian/musician Donald Glover made a guest appearance as Hannah’s new fling after her breakup with Adam. Glover’s character, Sandy, is a black Republican. A possibly meta conversation about race caps the episode, and ends with Hannah dumping Sandy.

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After the episode aired, the show was accused of stunt casting Glover in an attempt to add diversity. But in 2013, Dunham told Vulture that he wasn’t cast because of his race — he was cast because she loved his work.

Consent

One of the show’s most alarming and controversial scenes brought up questions about sexual consent, rape, and what’s crossing the line on television (even if it's HBO). In the season-two episode “On All Fours," Adam demands that his girlfriend Natalia (Shiri Appleby) crawl on the floor to his bedroom as part of some disturbing foreplay. After they have sex, Natalia says, “I really didn’t like that.”

Natalia’s comment, and watching her crawl on the floor to Adam’s pleasure, disturbed viewers and critics, although some argued that it was meant to be that way.

Marnie gets even more explicit action

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Within the first five minutes of the season-four opener, Marnie, as Dunham said, gets “her butt eaten out” by her new love interest and music partner, Desi. Dunham told Cosmopolitan that this was part of the show's way of showing Marnie’s new relationship.

It was shocking to some given that Williams is the daughter of Brian Williams, though many weren’t caught that off-guard considering the other graphic content “Girls” showed in the past. What was most shocking was that it was happening to Marnie, and not Hannah or Jessa (Jemima Kirke), the more sexually explicit characters.

"One Man's Trash"

“One Man’s Trash” is a unique episode. It spawned a controversy among writers and recappers, with feminists calling out criticisms of its believability. The season-two episode takes a break from the rest of the cast for a week and follows Hannah, who stumbles upon a sexy doctor who she hangs out with in the nude. They play ping pong, have sex, and make out a lot.

The controversy?

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People were pretty upset that a woman who looks like Dunham would fall into the arms of a man like Josh (Patrick Wilson), who is conventionally very, very handsome.

Jezebel rebuked some writers for finding the whole fling so ridiculous that they speculated it was a dream. Jezebel called Slate’s “Guys on Girls” recap “egregiously misogynistic.”

Charlie shoots up

In season five, Charlie (Christopher Abbott) makes a harrowing return into Marnie's life. She stumbles upon him on the streets of Brooklyn, and it's revealed that he is now a heroin addict. There's a scene showing Charlie shooting up that was quite disturbing to see. Abbott left the show suddenly at the end of season two, and this return wasn't the transformation that anyone exepcted.

Dunham “wishes” she had an abortion

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In late 2016, Dunham got a lot of backlash for a comment she made on her podcast, “Women of the Hour.” She said, “I still haven’t had an abortion, but I wish I had.” She received heavy criticism across all political sides for glamorizing the sensitive topic.

While this wasn’t a controversy directly related to “Girls,” the comment possibly turned fans off in anticipation of the sixth and final season, which premieres February 12 on HBO.

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