Dieter Nuhr faces backlash after femicide joke, tells women to 'get to know' partner before sex

The joke that sparked the storm

On 18 June, during his ARD show "Nuhr im Ersten XXL", German cabaret artist Dieter Nuhr addressed the topic of femicide. He acknowledged that 300 to 350 women are murdered each year in Germany, but argued that the probability of a woman encountering a murderer among millions of men was "practically zero". He then added:

“To be on the safe side, it would not be a bad idea to maybe get to know your partner before having sex.”

The studio audience laughed and applauded. Days later, a clip of the segment began circulating on social media.

Backlash from media and victims

Carolina Schwarz, a journalist for "taz", accused Nuhr of victim-blaming.

“Through his safety tip his view becomes clear: women are at fault if they are killed. They should have just got to know the man before sex.”

She noted that 87 percent of femicides are committed by partners or ex-partners. Influencer Josephine Schreiber, a survivor of domestic abuse, said her former partner initially presented as kind before breaking her nose.

“It disgusts me how absolutely privileged people, who probably have never experienced violence in their damned lives, sit there and laugh themselves to death about women being murdered several times a week in Germany by their partners or ex-partners.”

Influencer Leonie Plaar, who writes as "Frau Löwenherz", shared that her ex-boyfriend had first hit a wall next to her after two years together, challenging the notion that early acquaintance could prevent violence.

Nuhr's defense: misinterpretation and satire

On 26 June, Nuhr took to Facebook to reject the accusations.

“No joke about femicides, nowhere. I have never done that. I will not do that.”

He called the backlash "lächerlich" (ridiculous) and claimed his segment targeted the "completely exaggerated sweeping denigration" of all men as structurally violent. He later wrote that satire functions through polarization and exaggeration, and that he had merely pointed out the negligible chance of meeting a female murderer. Nuhr also referred to the overuse of the word "structural," which he said assigns blame to all men.

RBB stance: artistic freedom within satire

The broadcaster Rundfunk Berlin-Brandenburg (RBB), responsible for the show, acknowledged that the criticism was understandable but emphasized the protection of artistic freedom.

“Dieter Nuhr may, as an artist, formulate provocatively and pointedly against the backdrop of artistic freedom.”

The RBB stated that the program mandate was not violated and that taste boundaries could be debated, but the wide scope of satire freedom must be considered. Nuhr had previously sparked controversies with jokes about the pandemic, Greta Thunberg, migrants, and gay people.

The wider context of violence against women

The debate also highlighted the lack of a uniform definition of femicide in Germany. While Nuhr's 300 to 350 number is frequently cited, the actual figures are complicated. The "Tagesspiegel" reported that in addition to the kills, roughly twice as many attempted femicides occur annually, and 136,000 cases of domestic violence were documented in 2024. The "Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung" noted that the number 360, often used, originally came from former interior minister Nancy Faeser in 2024 and was misapplied, as not all killings of women qualify as femicide. Critics argue that Nuhr's statistical relativization obscures the reality that most femicides happen in long-term relationships.

Femicides per year350

Attempted femicides per year700

Domestic violence cases (2024)136,000

Femicides per year

350 cases

Attempted femicides per year

700 cases

Domestic violence cases (2024)

136000 cases

Data from the article text