B.sick Maher has (almost) never accused a famous man of wrongdoing he did not want to defend. The late-night comic, which once warned that the #MeToo movement was creating a “police state” for sex, has defended MSNBC’s Chris Matthews after being accused of sexual harassment (and ridiculing his accuser forever); has defended friend Al Franken, who was accused of inadvertent touching and kissing; has defended former Trump friend Corey Lewandowski after being caught on tape pushing a reporter; has repeatedly smeared Joe Biden prosecutor Tara Reade, whose lawyer later accused him of “recycling old rape myths”; and once claimed that married men sexually harassed women “for having a worthless sex life.” There are of course many more examples; that’s just a taste.
Which brings us to Friday night Realtime with Bill Maher, where the political satirist took it upon herself to defend Hollywood actor Armie Hammer, who is accused of emotional and physical abuse by a number of women. According to Maher, ‘feminism’ may be the real culprit here.
“I think we can talk about this in relation to where feminism is, because apparently Armie Hammer has a penchant for telling his dates he wants to ‘eat’ them. And who wouldn’t want to be eaten by Armie Hammer? Come on, ‘Began Maher. When a woman cheered in the audience, Maher exclaimed, “Just my point. Thank you – an honest woman. “
Hammer, the 34-year-old star of such films as The social network and Call me by name, initially came under scrutiny when leaked Instagram DMs were released by the account @houseofeffie in which he voiced cannibal, rape and kidnapping fantasies to women. Unfortunately, some members of the media and the public then began to confuse the actor’s kinks with the actually allegations of coercion and emotional and physical abuse.
Apparently this is something like ‘ethical human cannibal fetishism’. No real women were eaten in the making of this film. They were just talking. They have his lyrics where he said things like, ‘I want to take out your ribs and cook it with barbecue sauce,’ ”says Maher. “We are in a porn-focused society – people have been watching really hardcore porn for so long that ‘spanking you’ isn’t really enough anymore.” (So porn is apparently now to blame for Hammer’s fetishes, based on … what exactly?)
Maher went on to paint Hammer’s accusers as women who had simply changed their minds: “ My point is that the women who object to this now, who dated Armie Hammer – willingly – and stayed in – willingly – and there were no physical ones there. Bad things happen, okay … we can all agree that’s unbearable – but if there wasn’t physical coercion, why not just put this under, ‘That seemed like a good idea at the time – to Armie Hammer to eat – but it really wasn’t. ‘It seems that we no longer own our own choices. ”
One of the Real Time panelists, TIME corresponding Charlotte Alter, argued that “there were physical things” between Hammer and his accusers. “Some women have claimed there was some kind of blows. One woman said he carved his initials on her body, ”Alter added.
“Did he tie her up and do that?” Maher fired back. “I do not think so.”
Here we must discuss exactly what Hammer is accused of. One of the first women to come out publicly and accuse Hammer of misconduct was Courtney Vucekovich, an entrepreneur and app founder, who told Page Six that the actor forced her into an insecure relationship, putting her in “ dangerous situations where I wouldn’t was okay, ”Including sexual.
“He grooms you into the relationship quickly,” she told Page Six. ‘He kind of fascinates you and while he’s charming, he takes care of you for things darker and heavier and digesting. When I say consume, I mean mental, physical, emotional, financial, just everything. Vucekovich claims she had to be hospitalized for 30 days with PTSD that she suffered after being in a relationship with Hammer.
“Women approached me with their affair stories as we talked for days and nights overwhelmed with grief without sleeping or eating, and some ended up in the emergency room …“
Then there was 22-year-old Paige Lorenze who said Hammer sent her nude photos to other people without her permission, manipulating her emotionally by repeatedly bruising him and encouraging her to show the features and be proud of it. She claims that Hammer “liked hurting women, but used BDSM as a mask for this,” and told Page Six that she has been in trauma therapy ever since because of the ordeal.
A number of other women reported anonymously to @houseofeffie, claiming that Hammer exceeded their boundaries and experienced abuse from him.
“Women approached me with their affair stories as we talked for days and nights overwhelmed with grief without sleeping or eating, and some ended up in the ER,” the person who runs @houseofeffie wrote in an Instagram story. (Hammer, who has been kicked out of film and TV projects, kicked out of his desk, and knocked down by his estranged wife, has denied all charges.)
Go back to Maher, who insisted Real time that all the women who accused Hammer said everything was “ consensual, ” and that “ I think he’s exactly the man in the book Fifty Shades of grey, which I think was the most popular book ever with women … He’s this rich, handsome movie star and he’s got a kink. “
Then he explicitly blamed Hammer’s accusers – again, “ If you go swimming with the alpha sharks, it won’t turn out right in the end. Shouldn’t you know? I mean, is it really that hard to find out without the law getting involved? claimed Maher, adding, “He’s a cad!”
By the way, Maher has his own eventful past with women. Actress and activist Rose McGowan recently accused Maher of harassing her when she was a guest on his show: “I was on your show. Politically incorrect in the late 90s – when the show was returning from a commercial break, you leaned over to me and whispered in my ear, ‘my parents didn’t give me a good face, but they did give me a huge cock,’ she wrote, adding : “I could feel your hot breath on my ear as an image of both your horrible face and your supposed big cock flashed in my head. Both turned my stomach. I’ve always wondered what you say and do to the girls who aren’t famous? “