Lena Dunham has experienced an unsettling scrape with US airport security after a self-defence keychain was spotted in her luggage. Speaking to Seth Meyers on Late Night, Lena spoke of the experience that left her shaken and shocked at LAX airport after she returned from visiting Ohio. "I'm actually getting nervous talking about it, so if I do a bad job retelling the story, it's because it's so stressful for me to relive it!" she exclaimed.

Lena Dunham
Lena Dunham Was Detained At LAX After A Weapon Was Found In Her Bag.

One of Lena's colleagues had given her the keychain, which was shaped like a cat and could be worn as a knuckle duster, as a gift. "I understood sort of intellectually it could be used as a weapon," the actress said, via THR, adding "but really all I thought was like, What a cute little cat!."


We're sure Lena's friend had only her friend's best interests in mind when they bought her the keychain which is designed to be worn on the knuckles to ward of an attacker. "It's shaped like a cat - it goes over your knuckles," she explained, "but I guess the two ears could gut somebody." TSA agents didn't see the funny side though and Lena was detained for questioning and had to "wait for law enforcement to come and assess the situation."

Lena Dunham Emmys
The Actress Described How The Incident Shook Her Up.

"I see two guys look at each other like, 'Oh, we got a real situation on our hands,'" she revealed. She said that she waited for 45 minutes crying and hoping no passers-by recognised her. Meyers joked that anyone who saw her might assume she was filming an episode of her comedy Girls, as it would have looked like the kind of situation her character Hannah could have got into.

She recalled thinking "They're gonna Amanda Knox me. I'm gonna go away for a long time!" She said that as soon as they let her go, she phoned her mother who said "OMG, do you think anybody saw and tweeted about it?"

Lena Dunham Time 100 Gala
The Cat Keychain Was Designed To Be Worn On The Fist To Ward Off An Attacker.

The only thing that got me out of it sane," the actress told Seth, "was thinking that this might be an OK talk-show story."