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A video posted online Wednesday shows Bill Maher condoning sex between a 35-year-old woman and a 12-year-old boy during a 1998 episode of his ABC show “Politically Incorrect.”
The clip features Maher defending the infamous relationship between Mary Kay Letourneau and her student Vili Fualaau, who fathered two children with the woman before she was sent to prison.
“Letourneau was arrested and served more than seven years in jail for statutory rape,” The Hill writes. “She was released in 2004 and would go on to marry Fualaau the following year. The couple has two daughters in their late teens.”
Maher portrayed the female adult as a victim for refusing to “conform” with societal norms.
“I admit that it’s unorthodox,” Maher said. “She’s 35, the boy is 14. He was younger when they started. But she is pregnant again. That was the story this week.”
“This is the second child by this boy. They are keeping the mother in jail because she won’t conform to what society feels should be the perfect American family.”
Republican activist Celeste Greig responded by calling the relationship “sickening,” adding that the situation was a clear example of rape.
“Sickening. Absolutely sickening,” Greig said. “The woman is over 20 years older, and she raped this kid.”
Maher once again leapt to the defense of the couple, asking “How can a woman rape a man?”
Other guests, including former Black Flag frontman Henry Rollins, similarly pushed back against Maher’s claim.
The video surfaced online after gay journalist Milo Yiannopolous, who was a recent guest on Maher’s show, became embroiled in a scandal regarding similar comments.