30 most controversial Bill Maher moments
By Jeremy Dick
27. Maher enrages the Catholic League president Bill Donohue
Problems were bound to arise when Bill Maher had Family Guy creator Seth MacFarlane as a guest on Real Time in January 2016. The two are both well known for their atheistic beliefs, and both enjoy poking fun at religion as often as they can. So of course something to do with the subject was going to come up when MacFarlane came onto the show.
Maher told MacFarlane about an episode of Family Guy he had seen which really impressed him. He talks about how jealous he is of Seth, because the things Seth can get away with in cartoons is so much more. In particular, Maher brings up the Christmas episode where Jesus Christ beds Peter’s wife. The idea was that it was sympathy sex, because Jesus was a 2000 year old virgin by that point. But the kicker was that it’s a ruse, as Jesus is apparently doing this to lots of wives.
Just bringing up this episode of Family Guy on Real Time was enough to ruffle some feathers. The Catholic League president Bill Donohue was none too happy. He released a statement decrying the show, asking his supporters to contact HBO with complains about Maher and MacFarlane.