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Comedian and political commentator Bill Maher has sparked backlash over his comments on Cassie Ventura's texts to Diddy. At the end of Real Time With Bill Maher on May 30, 2025, Maher delivered a monologue on Sean "Diddy" Combs' ongoing sex trafficking and racketeering trial.
While commenting on text messages between Combs and Ventura, Maher laid the blame on the rapper's former girlfriend, stating:
“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 to their sex life. If you’re me too-ing someone, it doesn’t help your case if you texted him me too.”
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Bill Maher's comments were about one of Cassie Ventura's text messages, wherein she said, "I’m always ready to freak off”, despite having undergone the abuse she alleged during the course of her relationship with Combs.
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Additionally, Maher proceeded to suggest that Cassie Ventura levied allegations of abuse against Diddy despite consenting to the "freak-offs" to make a name for herself in the industry.
The comedian said that it was important to have an honest conversation about "what people are willing to do for stardom", comparing it to being as important as having a conversation about abuse.
"If you want a number one record on the chart so bad you'll take a number one in your face, some of that is on you. And if you're doing it for love, well, come on, Oprah and Dr. Phil and every podcaster in the world have done a million shows about how abuse is not love and abusers don't change."
Bill Maher joked that pretending otherwise about abuse being a one-time instance is like "seeing one ant in the sink and thinking 'oh it's probably just the one'."
Bill Maher compares Diddy trial to Bill Cosby and Harvey Weinstein
In addition to calling out Cassie Ventura for enabling Diddy's behavior and suggesting that she is to blame for what she endured during her relationship with the rapper, Bill Maher covered other aspects of Combs' trial.
The comedian took a dig at Combs, allegedly firebombing Kid Cudi's car out of jealousy when he found out about Cassie Ventura's relationship with Cudi. Maher poked fun at the incident, saying the firebombed car "wasn't even a Tesla."
He then made a point about love being complicated by pointing out that while Combs portrayed his jealousy, he also paid male escorts to have physical encounters with his ex-girlfriend.
Moreover, Bill Maher said:
“We need to keep two thoughts in our head at once. Diddy is a bad dude. Really bad. Like the worst thing in rap since Hammer Pants…an alleged violent, sick, f*ck. And two, things have changed enough so that moving forward, the rule should be, if you’re being abused, you’ve got to leave right away.”
The comedian talked about how earlier women believed that "OG predators" like Bill Cosby and Harvey Weinstein would never be held accountable, which is one of the reasons behind their silence.
Bill Maher said that people like Cosby and Weinstein were surrounded by enablers like sceptical cops, and assistants who lured women into unsafe spaces with knowledge of what was about to happen.
He added that these people "didn't dare to expose the person" signing their paycheck.
"In that scenario, it was not illogical for an abused woman to say, 'Well if I can't get justice for my pain, can I at least get a receipt, a coupon?' But a lot has changed. Cosby and R kelly went to prison, Harvey Weinstein is going to die in prison."
Bill Cosby was convicted of sexual assault in 2018, but was released after his conviction was overturned in 2021. Additionally, Harvey Weinstein is currently serving a 23-year prison sentence in New York for rape and sexual assault.
Weinstein was convicted again in L.A. in 2022 for one count of rape and two counts of sexual assault.
Bill Maher's comments on Diddy's trial, specifically Cassie Ventura's testimony, haven't sat right with the audience, given that the she broke down on the stand while detailing what she went through.
The comedian hasn't commented on the backlash yet.
