# Real Time with Bill Maher **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [October 10, 2023, 9:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/real-time-with-bill-maher/991367 "2023-10-10T21:03:05Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 21
**Author:** ![DWMarch](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dwmarch/32/1010_2.png) [@DWMarch](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DWMarch)\ **Post date:** [May 16, 2024, 12:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/real-time-with-bill-maher/991367/401 "2024-05-16T00:27:26Z")
For me, Bill Maher’s value is in allowing me to step a little bit outside of my echo chamber without having to watch Fox News or etc. I also see and appreciate a difference in how he treats his guests as opposed to CNN which sometimes takes pride in making headlines about themselves by having their anchors rudely argue with people they are interviewing. Maher is infotainment but he’s less about the “gotcha!” > [@msmith537](#): > > But apparently he must have crossed some line with some jokes There was a notable incident where he used the N-word with a hard R on the end on his show. He was using the N-word to describe himself and the audience laughed but still… it is clear he got a talking to about that one and I’m pretty sure he hasn’t said it on his show since. > [@Yookeroo](#): > > Good. Cancelling Bill Maher would be a good thing. More “cancel culture” please. Bearing in mind the N-word incident mentioned above and I am sure any of a million other things he has said over the years, I honestly believe Bill Maher lives in perpetual fear of being cancelled for something he said a long time ago. I think this is why he tilts at the windmill of wokeness every chance he gets. He knows that someday somebody will rediscover that one old clip of him saying whatever and it will go viral and he’ll be out of a job and out of the prospect of any future jobs. ---
**Author:** ![squeegee](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/squeegee/32/14537_2.png) [@squeegee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/squeegee)\ **Post date:** [May 16, 2024, 1:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/real-time-with-bill-maher/991367/402 "2024-05-16T01:09:45Z")
> [@DWMarch](#): > > I honestly believe Bill Maher lives in perpetual fear of being cancelled for something he said a long time ago. I think this is why he tilts at the windmill of wokeness every chance he gets. He knows that someday somebody will rediscover that one old clip of him saying whatever and it will go viral and he’ll be out of a job and out of the prospect of any future jobs. Maher is reportedly worth $140 million. I can’t imagine he gives a damn about getting “canceled”. Would you? He goes after “woke” because he’s a crank with an axe to grind and a megaphone. There’s no deeper meaning. ---
**Author:** ![Smapti](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/smapti/32/17938_2.png) [@Smapti](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Smapti)\ **Post date:** [May 16, 2024, 1:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/real-time-with-bill-maher/991367/403 "2024-05-16T01:19:22Z")
> [@squeegee](#): > > Maher is reportedly worth $140 million. I can’t imagine he gives a damn about getting “canceled”. Harvey Weinstein was worth $300 million. Key word being “was”. Bill ABSOLUTELY has skeletons in his closet that are going to come out someday. ---
**Author:** ![Jackmannii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jackmannii/32/311_2.png) [@Jackmannii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jackmannii)\ **Post date:** [May 16, 2024, 2:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/real-time-with-bill-maher/991367/404 "2024-05-16T02:12:50Z")
> [@wolfpup](#): > > In fairness to Maher, he did push back on RFK Jr’s most outrageous claims in a recent interview, but he didn’t push back nearly enough. Yeah, Maher was [real rough on Junior](https://www.thedailybeast.com/bill-maher-gives-anti-vaxxer-rfk-jr-another-big-boost) (link posted last fall in this thread, but highlights are worth repeating)… > [@](#): > > …the HBO host tore into _The New York Times_ for a story earlier this month that noted (RFK Jr.'s) right-wing tendencies. He claimed to Kennedy that the paper’s declarative language on his views—referred to as “conspiracy theories” and “misinformation”—had no place in the news pages of the _Times_ and commended the candidate for sticking to his beliefs on vaccines. > > “The guts and the integrity to take that stand and stick by your guns,” Maher said. “You lose the **New York Times** , family, that to me is a pair of balls.”\* Seems like Maher spent at least as much time ass-kissing as “pushing back”. > [@wolfpup](#): > > Maher’s cynical attitude toward vaccines and medical science in general is indeed one of his big problems, but there’s an old saying about throwing out the baby with the bathwater. Spreading outright falsehoods (like claiming during the segment with RFK Junior that repeated Covid-19 vaccination increases one’s chances of contracting the virus, or his earlier assertion that flu vaccination makes one more vulnerable to Alzheirmer’s disease, or fawning over a crank who [claimed that drinking milk from arthritic goats was protective against AIDS](https://sciencebasedmedicine.org/when-antivaccine-pseudoscience-isnt-enough-bill-maher-embraces-goat-milk-hiv-quackery/)) is not “cynicism” - it’s the sort of sleazy pseudoscientific claptrap he’s been engaging in for a long time. Again, from the Daily Beast: > [@](#): > > Both (Maher and RFK Jr.) have a shared history of anti-vaccine sympathies. During a 2015 episode of his HBO show _Real Time with Bill Maher,_ Maher also [praised](https://www.thedailybeast.com/bill-maher-anti-vaxxer-the-real-time-host-sides-with-robert-f-kennedy-jr-during-bizarre-interview) Kennedy for “championing” the anti-vax cause and spurring a debate on the issue (regardless of its foundation in reality). He also cast doubt in a 2003 [segment](https://www.thedailybeast.com/why-is-cnn-platforming-notorious-anti-vaxxer-bill-maher) on his show about the potential for a pandemic. OK, wolfpup, we get that you’re willing to excuse Maher’s revolting tendencies because of stuff about him you like. But don’t mischaracterize his being repeatedly and deliberately dead wrong on vital public health issues as “cynicism” or even “skepticism”. In Maher’s case, it qualifies as denialism. \*Maher likes to call antivax loons “ballsy”, as when he praised Woody Harrelson for his antivaccine tirade on Saturday Night Live - remarks Maher [helped him craft](https://www.newsweek.com/bill-maher-woody-harrelson-anti-vax-snl-monologue-1800570). ---
**Author:** ![wolfpup](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wolfpup/32/10618_2.png) [@wolfpup](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wolfpup)\ **Post date:** [May 16, 2024, 2:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/real-time-with-bill-maher/991367/405 "2024-05-16T02:36:06Z")
> [@Jackmannii](#): > > Yeah, Maher was [real rough on Junior](https://www.thedailybeast.com/bill-maher-gives-anti-vaxxer-rfk-jr-another-big-boost) (link posted last fall in this thread, but highlights are worth repeating)… That’s not the interview I’m referring to. I’m talking about the one two weeks ago, on April 26, when I saw notable pushback from Maher. ---
**Author:** ![Mijin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mijin/32/9369_2.png) [@Mijin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mijin)\ **Post date:** [May 16, 2024, 9:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/real-time-with-bill-maher/991367/406 "2024-05-16T09:48:32Z")
> [@DWMarch](#): > > I also see and appreciate a difference in how he treats his guests as opposed to CNN which sometimes takes pride in making headlines about themselves by having their anchors rudely argue with people they are interviewing. You’re kidding right? US news media is perpetually walking on eggshells and with a faux politeness that allows their guests to gish gallop any old nonsense. It’s only post-Trump that some interviewers have learned to toughen up a bit. As I’ve said previously; Mehdi Hasan’s interview style is completely normal for most of Europe. We _should_ be taking politicians to task. And we shouldn’t let them squirm away from answering a direct question. All that being said, I do enjoy the Mahar style too. Not because of the civility, but mostly because they are a bit more long form and it’s nice that multiple people can chip in with views. ---
**Author:** ![Smapti](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/smapti/32/17938_2.png) [@Smapti](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Smapti)\ **Post date:** [May 16, 2024, 10:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/real-time-with-bill-maher/991367/407 "2024-05-16T10:08:20Z")
> [@Jackmannii](#): > > He also cast doubt in a 2003 [segment](https://www.thedailybeast.com/why-is-cnn-platforming-notorious-anti-vaxxer-bill-maher) on his show about the potential for a pandemic. > Well, that certainly aged like milk. ---
**Author:** ![msmith537](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d9b06d/32.png) [@msmith537](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/msmith537)\ **Post date:** [May 16, 2024, 11:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/real-time-with-bill-maher/991367/408 "2024-05-16T11:44:23Z")
> [@squeegee](#): > > > [@DWMarch](#): > > > > I honestly believe Bill Maher lives in perpetual fear of being cancelled for something he said a long time ago. I think this is why he tilts at the windmill of wokeness every chance he gets. He knows that someday somebody will rediscover that one old clip of him saying whatever and it will go viral and he’ll be out of a job and out of the prospect of any future jobs. > > Maher is reportedly worth $140 million. I can’t imagine he gives a damn about getting “canceled”. Would you? He goes after “woke” because he’s a crank with an axe to grind and a megaphone. There’s no deeper meaning. Maybe Bill Maher also believes in free speech? A lot of people are sick of “woke” and being told to view everything they do and say and purchase through a smug lens of “diversity and inclusion”. ---
**Author:** ![Mijin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mijin/32/9369_2.png) [@Mijin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mijin)\ **Post date:** [May 16, 2024, 12:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/real-time-with-bill-maher/991367/409 "2024-05-16T12:28:26Z")
> [@msmith537](#): > > A lot of people are sick of “woke” and being told to view everything they do and say and purchase through a smug lens of “diversity and inclusion”. Can you give an example? Because when it comes to banning books, topics, technology etc (as well as obviously reproductive health) ISTM it’s a heck of a lot easier to find examples from the american right. ---
**Author:** ![crowmanyclouds](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/crowmanyclouds/32/19884_2.png) [@crowmanyclouds](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/crowmanyclouds)\ **Post date:** [May 16, 2024, 12:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/real-time-with-bill-maher/991367/410 "2024-05-16T12:32:30Z")
> [@msmith537](#): > > A lot of people are sick of “woke” Despite the fact that they can not define “woke”. ---
**Author:** ![DCnDC](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dcndc/32/2842_2.png) [@DCnDC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DCnDC)\ **Post date:** [May 16, 2024, 1:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/real-time-with-bill-maher/991367/411 "2024-05-16T13:59:14Z")
> [@msmith537](#): > > A lot of people are sick of “woke” and being told to view everything they do and say and purchase through a smug lens of “diversity and inclusion”. You mean we have to be respectful of people who don’t look and think exactly like us? The horror!!! ---
**Author:** ![Grrr](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/grrr/32/146_2.png) [@Grrr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Grrr)\ **Post date:** [May 16, 2024, 2:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/real-time-with-bill-maher/991367/412 "2024-05-16T14:04:19Z")
Free speech does not mean free from consequences of said speech. I am so tired of this form of deliberate gaslighting. ---
**Author:** ![Atamasama](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/atamasama/32/12961_2.png) [@Atamasama](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Atamasama)\ **Post date:** [May 16, 2024, 3:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/real-time-with-bill-maher/991367/413 "2024-05-16T15:54:36Z")
> [@Smapti](#): > > Well, that certainly aged like milk. Not to Maher, he still smugly believes that the whole Covid thing was much ado about nothing. ---
**Author:** ![Jackmannii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jackmannii/32/311_2.png) [@Jackmannii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jackmannii)\ **Post date:** [May 16, 2024, 7:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/real-time-with-bill-maher/991367/414 "2024-05-16T19:57:56Z")
> [@wolfpup](#): > > > [@Jackmannii](#): > > > > Yeah, Maher was [real rough on Junior](https://www.thedailybeast.com/bill-maher-gives-anti-vaxxer-rfk-jr-another-big-boost) (link posted last fall in this thread, but highlights are worth repeating)… > > That’s not the interview I’m referring to. I’m talking about the one two weeks ago, on April 26, when I saw notable pushback from Maher. Oh - [the one](http://salon.com/2024/04/27/rfk-jr-repeats-debunked-vaccine-claims-in-interview-with-bill-maher/) in which "the two came to an agreement, with Maher arguing for “mak[ing] (Covid vaccination) a case by case basis.”, and let Junior get by with claiming he’s not antivaccine, and the label is just a way of “silencing” him? 🤣 On further consideration, your argument that Maher is merely “cynical” about vaccines has made me see Republican leaders in a new light. When they back Trump’s claim of a “stolen” 2020 election due to widespread voter fraud, they’re not fantasizing and lying through their teeth - they’re merely being “cynical”. 🤔 > [@Grrr](#): > > Free speech does not mean free from consequences of said speech. I am so tired of this form of deliberate gaslighting. Not challenging your point, but I wish to hell people would stop misusing the term “gaslighting”. The poster in question is not trying to make you think you’re crazy for nefarious reasons, but is merely saying something with which you strongly disagree. ---
**Author:** ![Yookeroo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/yookeroo/32/323_2.png) [@Yookeroo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Yookeroo)\ **Post date:** [May 16, 2024, 9:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/real-time-with-bill-maher/991367/415 "2024-05-16T21:03:29Z")
> [@Jackmannii](#): > > Spreading outright falsehoods (like claiming during the segment with RFK Junior that repeated Covid-19 vaccination increases one’s chances of contracting the virus, or his earlier assertion that flu vaccination makes one more vulnerable to Alzheirmer’s disease, or fawning over a crank who [claimed that drinking milk from arthritic goats was protective against AIDS](https://sciencebasedmedicine.org/when-antivaccine-pseudoscience-isnt-enough-bill-maher-embraces-goat-milk-hiv-quackery/)) is not “cynicism” - it’s the sort of sleazy pseudoscientific claptrap he’s been engaging in for a long time. Again, from the Daily Beast: This makes him a public health danger, But, sure, keep defending him, **wolfpup**. > [@msmith537](#): > > A lot of people are sick of “woke” and being told to view everything they do and say and purchase through a smug lens of “diversity and inclusion”. Fuck their feelings. ---
**Author:** ![msmith537](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d9b06d/32.png) [@msmith537](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/msmith537)\ **Post date:** [May 17, 2024, 2:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/real-time-with-bill-maher/991367/416 "2024-05-17T02:06:23Z")
> [@DCnDC](#): > > > [@msmith537](#): > > > > A lot of people are sick of “woke” and being told to view everything they do and say and purchase through a smug lens of “diversity and inclusion”. > > You mean we have to be respectful of people who don’t look and think exactly like us? The horror!!! ironic > [@Yookeroo](#): > > > [@msmith537](#): > > > > A lot of people are sick of “woke” and being told to view everything they do and say and purchase through a smug lens of “diversity and inclusion”. > > Fuck their feelings. Says the person who presumably wants their feelings respected. ---
**Author:** ![wolfpup](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wolfpup/32/10618_2.png) [@wolfpup](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wolfpup)\ **Post date:** [May 17, 2024, 4:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/real-time-with-bill-maher/991367/417 "2024-05-17T04:14:38Z")
> [@Yookeroo](#): > > > [@Jackmannii](#): > > > > Spreading outright falsehoods (like claiming during the segment with RFK Junior that repeated Covid-19 vaccination increases one’s chances of contracting the virus, or his earlier assertion that flu vaccination makes one more vulnerable to Alzheirmer’s disease, or fawning over a crank who [claimed that drinking milk from arthritic goats was protective against AIDS](https://sciencebasedmedicine.org/when-antivaccine-pseudoscience-isnt-enough-bill-maher-embraces-goat-milk-hiv-quackery/)) is not “cynicism” - it’s the sort of sleazy pseudoscientific claptrap he’s been engaging in for a long time. Again, from the Daily Beast: > > This makes him a public health danger, But, sure, keep defending him, **wolfpup**. Am I defending him on this? Have you even read the fucking thread? Here’s what I said way early on near the beginning of the thread: > [@wolfpup](#): > > OTOH, one of his biggest and most annoying faults is an ignorant attitude towards medical science in general, which includes “vaccine hesitancy” with respect to some other vaccines. His general position is that since “medical science doesn’t know everything”, one can extrapolate from this truism that medical science doesn’t actually know much of anything, and therefore one should use one’s own judgment and make one’s own decisions. Maher seems blissfully unaware that this is **exactly** the same logic used by climate change deniers, and that it betrays a speaker who is ignorant of the relevant science but feels entitled to oppose it anyway, unaware of how stupid this makes them look. And here’s something else I said, emphasis added: > [@wolfpup](#): > > **Bill Maher is an idiot when it comes to medical science – potentially a dangerous idiot.** We know that. But repeating that fact over and over again doesn’t really advance the discussion about the overall value of his show and the discussions with his often very informative guests. So what am I defending, @Yookeroo? Let me answer that for you, since you apparently haven’t figured it out. I’m defending the overall value of the show _Real Time with Bill Maher_. My sin here, in the eyes of some posters, is apparently that I don’t see the world in black and white; that I fail to side with the bigoted view that if someone is factually wrong about something, then nothing they say is ever worth listening to. That I fail to side with the bigoted view that their entire show is therefore worthless, and so are the thousands of distinguished and well-informed guests that have offered their insights over the course of a quarter-century. I also object to posters like @Jackmannii conflating the views of some of Maher’s lunatic guests with the views of Maher himself. Has Maher ever claimed that drinking the milk of arthritic goats protects you from AIDS? Not that I know of, but apparently he once had someone named Sam Chachoua as an interview guest who did. I don’t recall that interview but I suspect that “fawning” was very much that article writer’s interpretation of Maher’s lack of aggressiveness. Whenever Maher has controversial guests, there’s always some infuriated contingent that accuses him of not being aggressive enough, as if he should have punched his guest in the face. I responded to that this way: > [@wolfpup](#): > > Maher has been described as “fawning” over controversial guests, but as I just explained, Maher has successfully cultivated the style of a congenial interviewer over many decades of experience on _Real Time_ and earlier shows. He’s generally respectful of everybody who comes on the show. When that individual happens to be an anti-vax lunatic, then yes, one can sometimes see some mutual admiration going on, but we already knew that Maher has crazy views about medical science. It doesn’t detract from the quality of the vast majority of his interviews and panel discussions. I’m not going to convince any hater of Bill Maher to watch the show and I’m not trying to. But there’s a lot of hysteria and misrepresentation going on here, much of which I suspect comes from those who have rarely or never seen the show, and base their opinions on a few controversial video clips or outraged media commentary on them. ---
**Author:** ![Stratocaster](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/stratocaster/32/16393_2.png) [@Stratocaster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Stratocaster)\ **Post date:** [May 17, 2024, 10:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/real-time-with-bill-maher/991367/418 "2024-05-17T10:25:09Z")
> [@wolfpup](#): > > My sin here, in the eyes of some posters, is apparently that I don’t see the world in black and white; that I fail to side with the bigoted view that if someone is factually wrong about something, then nothing they say is ever worth listening to. I don’t see a sin. To be honest, I’m kind of fascinated by your obsession with this. It’s what keeps me coming back to the thread. ---
**Author:** ![crowmanyclouds](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/crowmanyclouds/32/19884_2.png) [@crowmanyclouds](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/crowmanyclouds)\ **Post date:** [May 17, 2024, 10:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/real-time-with-bill-maher/991367/419 "2024-05-17T10:40:43Z")
> [@Stratocaster](#): > > I’m kind of fascinated by your obsession with this. It really makes me curious what their opinion of _Showgirls_, Mort Sahl, and Alvin Plantinga are. ---
**Author:** ![Gyrate](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gyrate/32/3588_2.png) [@Gyrate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gyrate)\ **Post date:** [May 17, 2024, 1:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/real-time-with-bill-maher/991367/420 "2024-05-17T13:27:51Z")
> [@msmith537](#): > > ironic Yes. But possibly not the way you mean. > [@msmith537](#): > > Says the person who presumably wants their feelings respected. Says the person quoting the people he’s applying it to. [![](https://pbs.twimg.com/media/CusBWVpVMAADOqy?format=jpg&name=900x900) ](https://pbs.twimg.com/media/CusBWVpVMAADOqy?format=jpg&name=900x900) [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/real-time-with-bill-maher/991367.md?page=20) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/real-time-with-bill-maher/991367.md?page=22)