Bill Maher rips Colbert, Jon Stewart for pandering to liberals

The Real Time host criticizes Stephen Colbert and Jon Stewart for never challenging their audience.

In a recent podcast interview centered around the upcoming Emmy Awards, Bill Maher, the outspoken host of HBO’s Real Time, took Stephen Colbert and former The Daily Show host Jon Stewart to task for borrowing his format, and called them out for continuously pandering to their “clack of liberals.”

The comments came towards the end of the interview after he was asked by the Hollywood Reporter’s Scott Feinberg how he felt about the Comedy Central shows that consistently beat him in the Outstanding Variety, Music or Comedy Series category for the past 13 years. Maher has been nominated 35 times, but has only won once as executive producer for HBO’s Vice, a record that he claims to “wear as a badge of honor.”

“Is that because I think we do a worse show? Of course not,” he said. “I think it’s because we do a better show. A braver show. And when you say things that are true, you offend people.”

Maher, a vocal atheist who is known for being heavily critical of Islam, is often booed by his liberal audience for pushing the envelope. He went on to state that he would rather have people coming up to him telling him he’s their hero than to have “a million Emmys,” and criticized the voting selection process, before agreeing that Colbert and Stewart owe him a bit of debt for paving the way, adding:

"“[They] never say anything that challenges their own audience. There’s no guts in that. That’s just pandering to me, to always say the thing that your clack of liberals will reliably applaud. I mean, I could do that. I know what they want to hear. That’s not what I’m looking to do.”"

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This isn’t the first time Maher has taken shots at the former Comedy Central personalities. The comic was critical of their Rally to Restore Sanity event in 2010, saying that it promoted a false equivalency between the two parties, and failed to be about something important.

Interestingly, Maher is slated to appear on The Late Show next week on Thursday, July 14. During his last appearance in November, he tensely debated religion with Colbert, a devout Catholic.

During the rest of THR’s Awards Chatter podcast, Maher also touched on his “Leave it to Beaver upbringing” and his career trajectory from stand-up comedian to reluctant actor and eventual host of Politically Incorrect, which began on Comedy Central and later moved to ABC, where he was fired for comments he made about the 9/11 terrorists. Unsurprisingly, talk also turned to Donald Trump, and the threat of radical Islam.

Stewart, who pops up in Batman v Superman Ultimate Edition, stepped down as host of The Daily Show last year, but is slated to join Maher on HBO to produce short-form videos, which may debut later this year. Meanwhile, the end of The Colbert Report and continued growing pains for new Daily Show host Trevor Noah, and Colbert’s version of The Late Show could pave the way for either Maher or Last Week Tonight host John Oliver to take home the trophy at this year’s Emmy Awards, which take place on September 18.

Next: Bill Maher, Chelsea Handler slam Donald Trump's kids

Real Time with Bill Maher returns Friday, July 15 at 10 p.m. on HBO, while The Late Show with Stephen Colbert will be back on Monday, July 11 at 11:35 p.m. on CBS.

Be sure to follow Last Night On on Facebook and Twitter for updates on all of the late-night shows.

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