Jay Leno came to the defense of Bill Cosby's accusers during a conference of television executives in Miami, asking why people don't give the women's sexual assault allegations against the comedian more credence.
"I don't know why it's so hard to believe women," Leno said on Wednesday during the question-and-answer portion of a conversation at the National Association of Television Program Executives in addressing the Cosby situation,
reported Variety. "You to go Saudi Arabia and you need two women to testify against a man. Here you need 25."
Larry Wilmore, whose "The Nightly Show" debuted Monday on Comedy Central to replace the "Colbert Report," made a similar point in dedicating his Tuesday show to the comedian,
according to the New York Daily News.
"Why aren't people listening to these women?" asked Wilmore, a former Emmy Award-winning comedy writing and correspondent on Jon Stewart's "The Daily Show."
"Is it because most of this allegedly happened so long ago? Is it because some of them went into Cosby's hotel room alone? Is it because there are no Polaroids? Is it because he's so famous? Or is it just because they're women?" continued Wilmore.
Wilmore said by his count 35 women have claimed that Cosby has sexually assaulted them.
"Let's understand this number," Wilmore said on his show. "That's like if Bill Cosby drugged and raped every single U.S. president from George Washington to John F. Kennedy."
Leno credited Wilmore on Wednesday with bringing "a different perspective" to late night television with his show, but overall adding that he was "disappointed there isn't more diversity in late night comedy," reported Variety.
Leno praised another comedian, Hannibal Buress, for not shying away from the Cosby controversy last year,
according to Us Weekly. It was Buress who reignited the sexual allegations against Cosby when he talked about it in his standup routine late last year, which went viral on social media.
"[Buress] made a flat-out statement that reverberated around the world," Leno said in reference to the viral video made by Buress. "On any other media that would have been edited. People are getting news unfiltered now. [That’s good]."