It didn’t take long for most of Stephen Colbert’s fellow late night hosts to speak out on CBS’s cancellation of The Late Show. Jimmy Kimmel was first out of the gate with a blunt two-part message on social media just hours after the news broke. “Love you Stephen,” he wrote. And: “F*ck you CBS and all your Sheldons.”
Jimmy Fallon, Seth Meyers, Andy Cohen, John Oliver, and Jon Stewart all followed with their own messages of support in the days that followed. All five even appeared alongside Colbert on his first episode after the cancellation announcement—a clear show of solidarity.
But nearly three weeks later, we haven’t heard a word from Bill Maher. Not on social media, not on his podcast, and not on his HBO show, which returned last Friday after a month-long break.
Under normal circumstances, Maher would probably be the least likely person to stay quiet. But for those familiar with Maher’s feelings about Colbert, it’s not exactly surprising that he hasn’t rushed to the CBS host’s defense.
“Colbert and I are not friends,” Maher said in a 2022 interview with political commentator Dave Rubin. “But the good part of that is, we don’t hide it. Like, he doesn’t like me and I don’t like him. And we don’t deny it.”
The roots of their feud appear to date back to Maher’s 2015 visit to The Late Show, where the two exchanged some sharply comic blows when Colbert—a practicing Catholic—facetiously “invited” the atheist Maher to reconsider his upbringing in the faith.
Colbert suggested that redemption might come from acknowledging a higher power and accepting the mysteries of the universe, while Maher pushed back, arguing that recognizing the unknown doesn’t mean inventing “silly stories.”
Recalling the exchange years later, Maher said their mutual dislike was palpable. “I think you could tell—it’s on screen.”
In 2017, while hosting the 69th Primetime Emmy Awards, Colbert included a jab at Maher following the HBO host’s use of a racial epithet on Real Time (Maher later apologized).
Praising the TV Academy for its diverse list of nominees that year, Colbert highlighted several by name: Samira Wiley, Uzo Aduba, Jeffrey Wright, and Viola Davis. He then added Maher, quipping, “I assume he’s Black because he’s so comfortable using the N-word.”
More recently, when Jim Gaffigan appeared on Maher’s Club Random podcast, Maher criticized Colbert and other “liberal” hosts for “feeding the machine.” Gaffigan defended Colbert, saying audiences tune in to hear “Colbert’s take” on the news.
“It’s not a take,” Maher replied. “I have a take on things. What they do is say exactly what a liberal audience wants them to say about that. That’s not a take.”
So why the silence now?
The Late Show‘s cancellation is one of the biggest media stories of the year. Is Maher holding back because his opinion might come off as too gleeful? Is he feeling some compassion for Colbert? Or is this simply a rare instance of restraint: if you can’t say something nice, don’t say anything at all?
Either way, the quiet is deafening. And coming from Bill Maher, that might be the loudest take of all.
Who the fuck cares what that whinny little bitch thinks? He’s a selfish, toxic narcissist who thinks the world needs to heed his so-called wisdom. And that was before he went to the White House to lick Drumpf’s unwiped ass! If there’s any late night show that deserves to be cancelled, it’s Bunghole Bill Maher’s!
Shouldn’t it be ‘Victor HAS crabs? Asking for a ‘retarded Drumpf licker’! Oh Vicki, you so funny. Remember, there’s no crying in trolling. Now be a nice boy and go back into your Moms basement, your Lunchable is done and the PlayStation controller is all charged up again.
You sound like someone who’s never been in a fight, retard! Projecting your loser life onto me is the lamest of things you can do!
Don’t try to cash checks your far ass can’t cover, retard!
You seem rather angry . . .
You seem rather retarded!
I’m starting to lose respect for him I think he’s weary of trump. it funny he is criticizing for what he used to do.
Having been a Maher fan for so long and then suddenly not is strange. His “take” and attitude about student demonstrations of pro-Palestine demonstrations bother me. Academic freedom to pursue truths is essential and Maher doesn’t get that which surprises me.
Yes, turning on Maher because he doesn’t like to see Jewish students terrorized makes you very strange.
You don’t give a fuck about Jews, you retarded Drumpf licker! You only give a fuck about who Dear Toddler Drumpf tells you to hate! Because you want a daddy figure doing all the thinking for you smooth brained imbeciles!
Only problem is, the person you idiots chose to do the thinking for you, is a smoothed brained imbecile, like you!
Sucks being you loser filth!🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣
Still better than the ghetto trash Obama, Dementia Joe Biden, and that Ho Prostitute Kamala
Got racism?
It appears you do.
I do NOT support hamas. They can end the suffering that resulted from the war THEY started today by giving an unconditional surrender
On the other side…it is 100% OK to protest at a college campus
You fell for trump’s lies
86 47
Racism?
The same Obama that is good friends with Nazis like Jeremiah Wright and Louis Farrakhan?
Yeah, that Nazi Ghetto Trash Obama.
Only to a racist retard, like you, cunt! Their approval ratings never dipped as low as your America despising hero, bitchface!
Ah yes, drudge up some long discarded narrative about Obama that only racist loser scum, like you, believe to be true!
You’re too fucking stupid to be conversing with the grownups here, retard!
Get rid of Maher & give the slot to Colbert. 2 birds, 1 stone.
Ph*ck Bill Maher! I once had respect for him but loath the low life which he has become…
maher is the regimes jester. unfunny is an understatement. only a brown noser cuz he loves the smell of men’s shitters..
I’m an atheist and agree with Maher on the religion issue, but I love Colbert and Maher has tried to hard in recent years to try to appease the nutcase MAGA movement.
Mahar’s irrelavence to everyone says all you need to know about that spineless equivocator.
This isn’t worth the bandwidth it consumed
Lets focus on wannabe dictator pedoDon
86 47
Maher is and always has been a world class douche.
I LOATHE Maher and his condescending schtick, but Colbert was in the wrong here.
Stephen Colbert has freedom of speech, just like the rest of us are supposed to have…
Pascal’s Wager is the notion that one might as well believe in God because there is no downside. If *that* is the reason somebody “believes” in God, it calls into question whether they truly believe or if they’re just playing probability games. If God knows our heart, wouldn’t one think that God could figure that he was being scammed? Stupid on Colbert’s part – who is normally a very intelligent guy. But, religious makes fools of even the most intelligent people.
Yes, if there is a God, God can see whether we really believe. The thing is that even the most devout believers sometimes doubt if they have half a brain.
What’s most annoying to me, a believer who occasionally doubts, is that atheists just make gods out of men – but never women. Their no different than many of the people I’ve met in every church I’ve ever attended or read about. Human beings will always be human. None of us is perfect or right about everything – even the most astute of us.
Who gives a crap what Bill Maher thinks…not me! I watched him for years and loved him, but after he started his Muslim diatribes a few years back, I knew that he sure wasn’t for me, not anymore! He’s really kinda turned himself into a whiny little bitch, what he claims about others, but now it’s him, and he’s become very self-centered. He just needs to sit down and STFU!
Bill Maher as become a trump fellatiator. I’m certainly not a fan anymore
I like Colbert’s show and his jokes. I don’t like his evangelical streak, and his self righteous insertions about religion during interviews with guests are insufferable, as was his interview with Maher.
So fucking what? Maher deserved that, because he’s an insufferable turd of a hacks, who nowhere funny and insightful as he wants people to believe!
For an accurate”take” on Bill Maher and Drumpf, Larry David was right on.. Invite Larry on your program, Bill. The late Norm McDonald of SNL fame was also not a Maher fan.
Norm McDonald was a rightwwing conservative. It’s not surprising he disliked Maher.
Also, Maher was always more successful than McDonald. Envy can easily lead to dislike.
And Bunghole Bill Maher has been moving to the right for a long, long time now!
Too bad!
I like them both.
They have different personalities and different takes, but they both deserve an A – expressing boldly their opinions!
Bunghole Bill Maher deserves an F for his obnoxious takes that aren’t rooted in reality. Even moreso since he licked Drumpf’s unwiped asshole in order to stay out of whatever trouble he’s gotten himself into!
Bill Maher is dead to me. He could proclaim that the sky is blue, but I’d still feel nauseous from the sound of his voice, his snarky narcissism, his “take” on life itself outside his own bubble which he alone feels is Universal Truth and perfect beyond dispute. I could go on- it’s not what people say and do so much as it is how they make you feel. He makes me feel sick, so I avoid even clips. HE should just go away. I even lose respect for some who appear on his show.
There is the opposite of a Venn diagram where Colbert, Maher, and Keith Olbermann will never intersect. They all have such venom for the GOP as well as each other.
If you don’t have venom for Gang Of Perverts, you’re not paying attention.
I was very surprised when Maher completely ignored the whole Colbert-cancellation mess when he returned last Friday. Thanks for putting it in context. With the guests he has booked this week, my guess it will come up this Friday and get spun into a New Rules segment.
I love both men, so I am so disappointed to read this
Esp. disappointed in Maher
They’ve arrived at opposite conclusions, yes
But, why dislike somebody for that, Bill…?
FYI: I’m generally biased to agree more with Maher (I’ve become a bit conservative, and I have already also become less and less interested in watching Colbert)
No, you sound generally confused!
I don’t watch Colbert due to the blatant hostility he has always shown Hillary Clinton – but I thought he was a regular viewer before I saw that side of him. I feel the same way about Jon Stewart, Seth Myers, and all the men who were on SNL during both her presidential campaigns. Maher, at least, embraced her in 2016 campaign, although he, too, seemed to consider Bernie Sanders intelligent. Sanders is intelligent in the same way Trump is. He’s arrogant and he’ll kneecap anyone who opposes him even if it destroys the country,
The supposedly liberal male comics from whom younger people get most of their political opinions were one of the main reasons why Hillary lost the nomination in 2008 and the election in 2016. Other factors entered into those defeats but sexism was at the heart of all of them. With the exception of Myers, they all regularly called men whom they were criticizing “pussies” which I found objectionable. They were in their 30s, 40s, and 50s. There was no excuse for that kind of behavior. When they blatantly favored Obama and Sanders over Hillary, it was clear that it was pure sexism. Colbert was the worst. He even got on his knees on his show and begged Biden to run against Hillary in 2016 – even though he never polled above 4% when he ran in 2008.
Imo, Colbert had no business evangelizing to Maher on his show. I don’t blame Maher for disliking him.
I’m a Christian so I disagree with Maher’s absolute hostility toward religion but I think the Catholic hierarchy is evil. I used to excuse believers, nuns, and priests who were willing to reject the sexist dogma. I don’t feel that way anymore. The Catholic Church s still hasn’t fixed its child sexual abuse problem that was publicized worldwide in 1992. It’s time to stop giving money to a bunch of men who loathe women and can’t be bothered to protect the children baptized into their faith.
I was wondering the same thing. Bill Maher takes care of Bill Maher. When has he ever espoused to the doctrine of, “If you don’t have anything nice to say, don’t say anything at all.”? Billy boy is all about himself. He doesn’t give a shit about anyone else. He has come to bend the knee in regards to Trump. Makes you wonder what kind of stuff he’s been smoking?