When you're as fiery and opinionated a public character as Bill Maher is, you're bound to step on toes and get involved in controversial interactions from time to time. The comedian is currently the host of HBO talk show Real Time with Bill Maher, a role he has held since February 2003.
Through the years, Maher has found himself at the center of some terse, yet memorable exchanges with - among others - conservative political commentator Ben Shapiro, host of CBS' The Late Show, Stephen Colbert, and his long-time friend-turned-Trump campaigner and Senior Counselor, Kellyanne Conway.
Another enduring confrontation involving Maher is a 2017 exchange between him and rap legend Ice Cube, following a racial controversy the host had found himself embroiled in. The drama unfolded as Cube was scheduled to appear on Real Time following the re-release of his 1991 album, Death Certificate.
Maher Uttered A Racial Slur In Conversation With Senator Ben Sasse
Ice Cube had been penciled in for the 18th episode of Season 15, alongside author, radio host, and minister Michael Eric Dyson, former Florida congressman David Jolly, political strategist, and commentator Symone Sanders and CNN political analyst David Gregory.
As luck would have it, in the immediate previous episode, Maher made one of the most egregious errors one can make on national television. One of his guests for that episode was Republican politician Ben Sasse, who serves as a junior United States senator for the state of Nebraska. When the host claimed that he would love to visit Nebraska more often, the senator welcomed him, saying, "We'd love to have you work in the fields with us."
As most comedians would do, Maher reacted in quick time to the comment. However, his response was not well thought out, and would end up threatening to see him get canceled. "Work in the fields?" he posed. "Senator, I'm a house n***er!" Even Sasse appeared to be lost for words, and just grinned awkwardly at the quip as the audience laughed. Unsurprisingly, there was a major fallout from the blunder by Maher.
Ice Cube Quelled Noise That He Would Boycott Maher's Show
There was widespread criticism for the fact that Maher uttered the slur, but even more so for how easy it was for the word to roll off his tongue. The comedian was also called out for just going on with the show, and apparently not being able to later pick up on his heat-of-the-moment transgression. He did at least attempt to mitigate the damage in the immediate aftermath, saying, "No, it's just a joke."
With one week in between the taping of Real Time episodes, there was some speculation as well, on whether Cube would go through with his scheduled appearance, or he would boycott it as a result.
The musician was quick to quell that noise, though, confirming that he would definitely appear, as he wanted to have a conversation with Maher about the incident on national television.
When the day finally arrived, the Friday star was the last one from the panel of guests to be welcomed on stage. Maher knew exactly what to expect. "So I know you're here to promote an album. I know you also wanna talk about my transgression. What do you want to do first?" he started.
Ice Cube Accepted Bill Maher's Apology
Cube was gracious enough to immediately diffuse the tension in the room with a cheeky dig at Maher. "I knew you was gonna f*** up sooner or later," he jabbed, to the collective amusement of audience and panel. He then went on to compliment his host and the show, before hitting the crux of the matter. "I just want to know, what made you think that it was cool to say that?" he asked.
Maher opened his defense by explaining that as a comic hosting a live show, he would normally have very little time to think through his responses. "I just explained, there was no thought put into it," he stated. "Obviously, I was telling Dr. Dyson, comedians; they react. And it was wrong. And I apologized. More than that, I can't do."
Cube told Maher that he had accepted his apology, before explaining why the word is so offensive to African-Americans. "It's a word that has been used against us," he said. "It's like a knife, man. And you can use it as a weapon, or you can use it as a tool. It's been used as a weapon against us, by white people. And we're not gonna let that happen again."