Bill Maher Blames Diddy Accuser For Not Coming Forward Sooner
'Real Time' host Bill Maher weighed in on the ongoing trial of Sean 'Diddy' Combs, who stands indicted on federal charges including sex trafficking, and the comedian appeared to blame Combs' ex-girlfriend Casandra 'Cassie' Ventura for the abuse she allegedly suffered at his hands.
'We need to keep two thoughts in our head at the same time,' Maher said Friday on his show. 'One, Diddy is a bad dude — really bad. Like, the worst thing in rap since Hammer pants. A violent, sick fuck ... and we should lock him up and throw away the baby oil.'
'And two, things have changed enough so that moving forward, the rule should be, if you're being abused, you gotta leave right away,' he continued. 'Now, I completely understand why, in the past, women often did not do that.'
Maher went on to argue that victims had little recourse prior to the #MeToo movement that emerged in the last decade and helped women expose their abusers, but suggested that victims who don't immediately speak out in today's age are at fault for sowing public mistrust.
Ventura started dating Combs in 2007— notably before the #MeToo movement began —and she accused him in 2023 of repeated physical and sexual abuse that began gradually and grew worse over the course of their relationship.
'It's not victim-shaming to expect women to have the agency to leave toxic relationships,' Maher said on Friday.
'Quite the contrary, to not expect that is infantilizing,' he continued. 'If Diddy walks free, it will be because his lawyers can point to an endless stream of texts from Cassie expressing what's often called 'enthusiastic consent.''
A graphic on the screen next to Maher showed text messages from Ventura presented at trial in which she wrote, 'I'm always ready to freak off.'
Combs' so-called 'freak offs' were orgies he allegedly organized, and he's accused of drugging Ventura and others before the events.
Domestic violence victims often don't speak up publicly, or simply leave their abusers, out of warranted fear of retribution. While Maher claimed to 'understand' why it 'can be difficult for women to leave an abusive relationship,' his comments suggested he did not.
'This should be society's new grand bargain,' he said. 'We take every accusation seriously, but don't tell me anymore about your contemporaneous account that you said to two friends 10 years ago. Tell the police right away. Don't wait a decade. Don't journal about it.'
'Don't turn it into a one-woman show,' he added. 'And most importantly, don't keep fucking him. Your only contemporaneous notes about what he did should be the police report.'
Ventura, who was shown in security footage released last year being brutally beaten by Combs, testified in court that she endured 'violent arguments that would usually result in some sort of physical abuse' — and that his security guards 'protected him' but 'kept an eye on me.'
Representatives for Maher did not immediately respond to HuffPost's request for comment.
Need help? Visit RAINN's National Sexual Assault Online Hotline or the National Sexual Violence Resource Center's website.
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