Coco Johnsen, a black model who dated Maher for about a year and a half beginning in 2003, was asked by TMZ if he freely used the N-word around her and she replied, “I’ve heard the word many times.”
She would not confirm if Maher was the one who said it, but she didn’t deny it either, insinuating it was likely dropped during their relationship.
“I just think that anyone who uses the N-word is insensitive… I’m sure that he’s learned his lesson,” she told TMZ.
“Maybe some sensitivity training at the NAACP could do some use,” Johnsen continued.
The 51-year-old former Playboy Cyber Girl also called the use “condescending, sad and disappointing,” adding that any educated person could find a better word to use in their vocabulary.
Maher quickly became the center of a controversy last week after he said, “Senator, I’m a house n—-r,” to Nebraska Sen. Ben Sasse after the politician invited him to visit the state and work in the fields.
The HBO host later apologized and said he regretted his statement. The network has chosen to continue the series and keep him on board.
Maher lost his job as host of ABC’s “Politically Incorrect” just days after Sept. 11, 2001 after he made an insensitive comment noting that the terrorists were “not cowardly” for staying in the airplane when it hit the tower.
Ice Cube is scheduled to appear on “Real Time” this Friday and discuss Maher’s use of the N-word. Sen. Al Franken decided to back out of his scheduled appearance after the host’s use of the racial slur.
Kareem Abdul-Jabbar penned a guest column for The Hollywood Reporter on Wednesday, defending Maher’s N-word drop on TV and explaning that we can’t punish every time it is used.
The NBA great wrote that “intent is important” and explained that it was clear Maher’s intention was not to demean blacks.
“Was Maher insensitive? Absolutely. Inappropriate? Definitely. Smug in appropriating the word for cheap humor? Check,” Abdul-Jabbar wrote. “Yet, there was no malevolent intent.”
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