Late-night host Bill Maher apologized on-air Friday for using a racial slur during last week’s live episode of his weekly HBO program.
“I did a bad thing,” the “Real Time with Bill Maher” host said near the start of Friday’s broadcast. “For black folks, that word, I don’t care who you are, it’s caused pain. It doesn’t matter that it was not said in malice, it caused pain and that’s why I apologized.”
“We’re all evolving,” he continued. “Yes, it was wrong and I own up to that. It happened, and it was wrong. People make mistakes, we’re all sinners.”
Mr. Maher, 61, sparked a firestorm one week earlier when he used the N-word during a live interview with Sen. Ben Sasse while discussing the Republican’s home state of Nebraska.
“We’d love to have you work in the fields with us,” Mr. Sasse told the host.
“Work in the fields?” Mr. Maher responded. “Senator, I am a house [expletive].”
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The host apologized in a written statement the following day, but not before HBO made an announcement of its own blasting his comment as “completely inexcusable and tasteless.”
“I’m just a product of the country, but I don’t want to pretend that this is more of a race thing than a comedian thing,” Mr. Maher said during Friday’s episode. “We are trained to get a laugh. This is not the first time I’ve gotten in trouble, because that’s what comedians are somehow wired to do. Sometimes we transgress a sensitivity point.”
Indeed, the “Real Time” host likened his situation to that of Kathy Griffin — a fellow comic who similarly draw fire late last month after posing for photographs with an object made u to look like the bloody, decapitated head of President Trump.
“Look at what happened to my friend Kathy Griffin,” Mr. Maher said. “As much as I hate Trump… that’s wrong. You don’t do that to whoever the president is. But she was going for a laugh, and I understand that. We do sometimes cross the line.”
“Kathy Griffin should not go away,” he continued. “You make a mistake, you don’t have to go away. Everyone makes mistakes.”
Ms. Griffin, 56, apologized for the photo shoot, but went on to describe Mr. Trump as a “bully” during a press conference last week after the images triggered strong reactions from the president, first lady Melania Trump and purportedly the U.S. Secret Service, in addition to costing the comic her gig co-hosting CNN’s annual News Year’s Eve programming.
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“I don’t think I’m going to have a career after this. I’m going to be honest, he broke me,” Ms. Griffin said last week. “A sitting president of the United States and his grown children, and the first lady, personally, I feel, are trying to ruin my life forever.”
“The message is clear: criticize the president, lose your job,” Lisa Bloom, her attorney, said during last week’s press conference.
• Andrew Blake can be reached at ablake@washingtontimes.com.
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