“Real Time” host Bill Maher said Monday that the Democratic Party needs to “tell celebrities to shut the f— up” if it wants to win elections in the future.
Maher told the California Post that Hollywood is holding the party back from achieving its goals.
“Hollywood sort of the epicenter of the woke left. I don’t think they’re doing the Democratic Party any favors,” he told the outlet. “I think if Democrats want to win elections in the future, job one, tell the celebrities to ‘Just shut the f— up. You’re not helping. You don’t strike people in most of the country as sensible or in touch with reality.'”
Maher, a self-described liberal who frequently criticizes both the left and the right, has faced backlash from some progressives for his critiques of woke ideology and the Democratic Party.
Earlier this month, fellow comedian Wanda Sykes took a swipe at the “Real Time” host while presenting the award for Best Stand-Up Comedy Performance at the Golden Globes, for which Maher was nominated for his HBO special “Is Anyone Else Seeing This?”
In the special, Maher referred to colleges as “four-year daycare [centers] for the crybullies of the privileged” and said, “You wonder why the left catches more jokes from me? They changed, not me, OK?”
“Bill Maher, you give us so much,” Sykes said while presenting the award. “But I would love a little less.”
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Comedian Ricky Gervais, who won the award for best stand-up comedy special, was absent for the ceremony, so Sykes accepted the award on his behalf by thanking the “trans community” as a dig at him. Gervais’ comedy had previously been deemed “anti-trans” by the Gay and Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation (GLAAD).
As noted by the Post, Maher had previously predicted on his “Club Random” podcast that he wouldn’t win because of his willingness to call out both sides of the aisle: “I speak freely, and this woke town f—ing hates that. And that’s okay. I’ve made my peace with that.”
Aside from Maher’s special not winning, Joe Rogan‘s top-rated podcast “The Joe Rogan Experience” was notably left off the Globe’s nominations for its new podcast category.
“It was typical and predictable and also ridiculous that Joe Rogan wouldn’t be nominated in a category that he dominates,” Maher told the California Post.
“Good Hang with Amy Poehler,” which was ranked lower than Rogan’s podcast on the Spotify, Apple and YouTube Podcasts charts, ended up winning the Globe’s inaugural Best Podcast category.
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During a conversation with comedians Dana Carvey and David Spade on “Club Random” last week, Maher blasted the Globes as “f—ing smug a–holes,” and said the nominees were all “super woke stuff.”
“Did you see that there’s a podcast category at the Globes?” Maher asked. “They only nominated like the super woke stuff.”
“I’m sure there were good shows, but it was glaring that Joe Rogan was not nominated,” he added. “I mean, it is kind of popular.”
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