Comedians are the staple of bringing in laughter, but also at being able to tell jokes tastefully. If done correctly, it will benefit them well, but doing it wrong will not only leave the audience silent, but also bring about some booing if it is extremely bad. One example of a comedian who is described this way is Bill Maher. He is very focused on political talk, but also is not shy of talking about other social issues, like religion and the mass media.
With a ton of access to social media, Maher has been getting more controversial as the years go on. He may not be the right-wing nutcase that many Twitter users will dunk on, but he has made some... interesting takes that has people riled up. Here are the details surrounding the longtime comedian and talk show host's behavior.
10 Thinks Watching Streamers On Twitch Is A Waste Of Time
One of the most recent hot takes Bill Maher has confessed to is the idea that watching other people livestream on Twitch is a waste of time. Since there are a ton of influencers famous because of Twitch and the amount of fans they have, they were rightfully angry at Maher for his opinion. This argument doesn't even hold up in general.
Entertainment comes in many forms, and if people want to watch someone livestream because they find that person entertaining, then they are obligated to do so.
9 Compared Dogs To Dim-Witted Children
Politically Incorrect became the talk show that heightened Bill Maher's career. At times, the late night show could be clever and funny, but it was absolutely far from perfect. There were many iconic guest stars, including Jerry Seinfeld, Dave Matthews, and Carrot Top. And there were many moments from the show that went too far, even one that resulted in the show's cancellation.
For this entry, we are referring to one of the milder, but still offensive statements Maher made. Millions of people love dogs, but to compare them to mentally disabled children by saying, “If I had two r------d children, I'd be a hero. And yet the dogs, which are pretty much the same thing.” This would absolutely not fly today if Maher were to say something like this.
8 Gave A Platform To Many Strange Guests
Bill Maher has brought many guests to his show, whether to talk to one-on-one or to debate with another guest on specific topics. That might be someone's cup of tea, but the guests Maher would invite onto the show were either relevant or bizarre.
In general, it's great to give someone a platform to speak out on their goals and whatnot regardless of their background, but with the likes of conservative columnist, Ann Coulter and internet troll, Milo Yiannopoulos, it was absolute insanity.
7 Intolerant Towards Muslims
When it comes to the topic on Islam, Bill Maher does not hold back in how intolerant he is towards the religion and the group of people who follow it. His comments even got the approval of Fox News' "The Five," which includes Greg Gutfeld.
Adding to the fact that Maher doesn't believe women are treated harshly in Muslim countries, he would say in response, "Talk to women who’ve ever dated an Arab man. The results are not good."
6 Using The N-Word With No Hesitation
As mentioned earlier, Bill Maher invites many guests from different political backgrounds, bringing a unique perspective on issues. His guest in this controversial moment was with Nebraska Senator Ben Sasse, conversing about adults not wearing Halloween costumes in the state, as it is looked down upon. After Maher jokingly stated that he loved to go there, and Senator Sasse stated he'd love him to work on the fields, the talk show host blurted out the N-word.
Many people were extremely offended, calling for HBO to fire him and cancel his show. The network did not condone what he did, with a statement from Hollywood Reporter, HBO also criticized Maher’s use of the word. "Bill Maher’s comment last night was completely inexcusable and tasteless."
5 Calls Out His Audience If They Don't Laugh
There will be times where the audience will not enjoy a joke. It is extremely risky and can ruin a good comedic performance if the person doesn't win them back. Maher has been a victim of this, and whenever the audience doesn't laugh at his jokes, he will take it too seriously and fire back at the audience without a second thought.
He will go all passive aggressive and flip them off, telling them it's only a joke. This occurred when Maher defended Democratic nominee Mike Bloomberg for his racist comments.
4 Arrogant At Best
Haters will be more than happy to describe Maher as liberal arrogance. Some older fans even commented on how excruciating Maher can be. With the details from ignorance to Twitch streamers to putting himself on a high pedestal, it's understandable why people nowadays tend to dislike Maher.
The lack of humility he has is just crazy. There will be times where he refuses to admit he's wrong. One guest even referred to him as extremely smug, living in his own world.
3 Blatantly Sexist At Worst
If anyone remembers the 2009 episode where Bill Maher commented that Tila Tequila choking was inevitable, due to her being in an abusive relationship, then they know that Maher's comments can be downright sexist at times.
He also stated that Hillary Clinton, who was running against Barack Obama for the Democratic nominee in 2008, only cried to manipulate people emotionally. Maher added this to every woman, essentially stereotyping them. Then there is the intense insults he threw at former Alaskan governor Sarah Palin.
2 Is Totally Cool With Calling A Virus A Certain Name
Maher considers himself a libertarian, but has shown more liberal beliefs than he seems to lead on. With that in mind, you would think that Maher would be respectful about the pandemic that started getting bad in March last year. But sadly, that's not the case, as Maher has referenced the Coronavirus as the "Chinese virus."
He even defends the right to call COVID-19 by that name, and that hasn't been received well by social media users. Logically, his reasoning is to refer the virus to where it originated from. This has been especially offensive ever since Donald Trump has been using that phrase to describe it, which has been linked to racial slurs.
1 His Take On 9/11 From 'Politically Incorrect'
When it comes to tragic events in American history, such as 9/11, making any joke revolving it is considered extremely insensitive, especially to those that have loved ones that were lost that day. At the time, Maher's show was moved to ABC, and the network was certainly not happy with the episode released on September 17, 2001.
Maher went so far with commenting on then-president George W. Bush's statement on the terrorists being cowards. Along with Dinesh D'Souza, they agreed that the terrorists were warriors, with Maher saying, "We have been the cowards, lobbing cruise missiles from 2,000 miles away. That's cowardly. " Maher eventually apologized and stated he was referring to the U.S. military system, but the damage was already done.