TBH, I am not and never have been a fan of Bill Maher; his interview of Musk last year was so obsequious I found it unwatchable after the first few minutes, simply unbearable. If he had been able to get his head further up Musks’s ass….but he couldn’t as it was already up there to his shoulders.
He occasionally makes a decent point, or two, and the New Rules are often laugh out loud funny but – and – however – no. One reason I am not a fan – other than his circle-jerking snark and blind privilege – is the make-up of his writer’s room, which is as follows: Ross Abrash, Scott Carter, T. Rafael Cimino, Lance Crouther, Adam Felber, David Feldman, Sheila Griffiths, Matt Gunn, Amy Holmes, Brian Jacobsmeyer, Jay Jaroch, Chris Kelly, Mike Larsen, Billy Martin, Samantha Matti, Bob Oschack, Amani Redd, Ned Rice, Jonathan Schmock, Paul F. Tompkins, Nick Vatterott, Danny Vermont, and Bill Maher himself.
Why was I not surprised to see that of 24 writers, only 4 are women (the women are italicized)? Because, whenever I do see one of the clips from the show I can tell the voices of women are mostly if not entirely absent. This matters. And, as a proud Feminist KillJoy, I am happy to say I almost always look to see who is writing for whom, and, again, not that anyone needed to tell me the consistently sexist Maher has few female writers on his show because it’s a glaring truth if you watch or listen to the guy. Recently I watched a clip of his ‘Overtime’ on Youtube, in which 3 guests – all white males – yucked it up over the fact that Finland was once again the happiest country on the planet, which – Bill said – was ridiculous because it gets so dark so early you can’t even see the hot blondes out on the street. Hahahaha. Ick.
Bill Maher has been famous for a long time, rich, too. He is an Ivy League grad (Cornell) baby boomer white guy who has more in common with trmp than he does with anyone born after 1960, but especially anyone born into poverty with a melanin ‘problem’ or born female. He may feel he was victimized, losing his previous show Politically Incorrect to declining ratings (or, as he would put it, cancel culture), but in fact he is a spoiled, bubble living celebrity whose sanity-washing of trmp on a recent show was truly maddening. But! In a world where he can buy his friends and has a massive platform to promote his both sides suck views, what consequence to his pandering will there be? Liberal tears?
Bill Maher is a privileged, spoiled jerk who for decades has experienced very few consequences for his views, or chosen lifestyle. And hey, I’m okay with that to a point, because everyone is free, bay-be except – not everyone is, actually, as free, or able to spout the views and live their values and life without consequence. Maher’s a libertarian at heart, I think, people who – mostly wealthy white men – are very much in the ‘I’ve got mine, fuck you’ party of selfish shortsightedness. And why wouldn’t he/they be? He’s never had any real skin in the game.
My favorite anecdote about this clueless putz? Once, fellow comedian Howie Mandel interviewed Maher and point blank asked Bill if he thinks that perhaps the very young women who are dating him, are doing so for his money (Maher dates younger women always, and younger women of color most often), and Bill said no, they are not. Howie asked how he knew that. Bill said, “I can tell.”
Okay, boomer.