Bill Maher called out by Howard Stern, continuing his tough month
By Matt Moore
Things have been pretty rocky for Bill Maher in September. The latest comes from Howard Stern, who called out the Real Time with Bill Maher host for “sexist” remarks.
Responding to an episode of Maher’s Club Random podcast, Stern took issue with Maher commenting on the radio host’s first marriage. Maher noted how frequently Stern expresses love for his wife, Beth. The Real Time host followed up by saying he felt bad for Stern’s first wife, Alison Berns.
Stern took exception to the comments and addressed them during his SirusXM show. “What a sexist thing to say. What a convoluted, nutty thing to say,” Stern said. “He says it must hurt [Alison’s] feelings that I’m in love with a different woman. It’s assuming that he knows something about my first marriage. That of course the man must be leaving the woman and the woman must be devastated and be sitting around pining away for her famous man.”
According to Stern, he reached out to Maher to get an explanation. However, the comedian didn’t respond. So with that, Stern felt justified in attacking Maher further. “He ought to shut his mouth! I mean, I don’t think I come on the air every day and say I love my wife,” Stern said. “But I thought it was a pretty positive message, especially with my audience, to say to guys, ‘Instead of ragging on our wives, how about talking how we appreciate and love them?’”
Stern went on to announce that he’s no longer friends with Maher over the incident. The radio host appeared on Real Time with Bill Maher on October 11, 2019. Maher has also visited Stern on the radio.
Bill Maher continues to have a tough September
The loss of Howard Stern’s friendship and his comments are the latest knock against Bill Maher. He entered September on the heels of his Barbie review, where he received criticism for calling it “preachy” and “man-hating.”
Then, Maher weighed in on the Writers Guild of America strike that has put Real Time and other late-night TV shows on hiatus. Maher claimed that Hollywood writers “aren’t owed a living” in an industry based on merit. Again, Maher faced backlash for his seemingly insensitive comments.
And just last week, Maher reversed course on bringing Real Time back to HBO. He initially tweeted plans to return to air without a writing staff. Many considered Maher as turning his back on writers. The host claimed that there were too many other people affected by his show not going on the air.
However, Maher later claimed that restarted negotiations between the WGA and the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers convinced him to hold off on bringing back Real Time. Critics argued that the pressure got to Maher and he had no choice but to backtrack.
Maher has yet to publicly respond to Howard Stern. But with new episodes of Club Random on the way, there’s still a chance he will … or perhaps find another way to make people angry.