Bill Maher is no stranger to guests, whether it was Politically Incorrect or his current HBO series, Real Time with Bill Maher. However, things don’t always turn out well once a guest comes to the stage. Recently, he opened up about a star that isn’t returning to his show anytime soon.
Bill Maher Recently Discussed A Past Real Time Guest On His Podcast Series
Maher is a comedian and television personality known for his political satire. From 1993 to 2002, he hosted Politically Incorrect for ABC and Comedy Central.
Since 2003, Maher has hosted Real Time with Bill Maher for HBO. Since 2022, he has also hosted the podcast, Club Random.
During a recent episode of his podcast, Maher spoke with Max Amini and discussed one guest who has refused to return to his HBO show. This was Ben Affleck, following an argument during his 2014 appearance.
During the original episode, the panel was talking about Islamic extremism, with the actor sharing he had been receiving hate for saying that “liberals need to stand up for liberal principles.” For his part, Maher shared, “All I’m saying is that liberal principles like freedom of speech, freedom to practice any religion you want without fear of violence, freedom to leave a religion, equality for women, equality for minorities, including homosexuals… these are liberal principles that liberals applaud for.” He continued, “But then when you say in the Muslim world, this is what’s lacking, then they get upset.”
Sam Harris Also Discussed The Fallout From The Episode
At the time, Affleck took issue with the comments from Maher and another guest, podcaster Sam Harris, saying that they were equating extremists with everyday people who follow the religion. He dubbed these arguments “racist,” “gross,” and “nuts.”
Maher then revealed that he has actually asked Affleck to come back “every year” since then. However, he hasn’t accepted the invitation. Maher continued, “I mean it’s… I love him. But we just are gonna disagree on that one. I may, you know, if I talked to him privately or… it’s been 12 years, maybe I think there’s a middle ground.”
As he continued, Maher felt that certain comments “got exaggerated” and “for some reason it got emotional.” He admitted that these types of debates usually make an impression on his audiences. He shared, “More people mentioned that episode to me than anything. It wasn’t the best episode we ever had, but it got emotional with a movie star. That’s America.”
This isn’t the first time this episode has been discussed on the podcast. Harris himself had previously shared that he and Affleck “buried the hatchet” over the debate. However, Maher felt that he hasn’t yet had that opportunity to reconcile with the actor.
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John Witiw has been a writer since at least 2015. He’s covered a variety of topics, especially when it comes to film and television.