Bill Maher Makes Rare Remarks About Jimmy Kimmel Feud
Bill Maher and Jimmy Kimmel may never speak again, the Real Time host revealed on the most recent episode of his Club Random podcast, after remarks he made about Kimmel’s wife cutting off Trump-supporting family members.
Maher and Kimmel Feud Over Not-So-Different Political Views
While speaking to guest Adam Corolla, who co-hosted The Man Show with Kimmel on Comedy Central from 1999 until 2004, Maher explained that he and Kimmel came to figurative blows over their respective political stances. “Jimmy Kimmel, you know, he’s very mad at me, and I know you’re close to him,” Maher told the comedian, who’s still close friends with Kimmel. “I hope you tell him that I’m sorry that it got bent out of shape," Maher continued. "I don’t think I did anything wrong. We can have disagreements. I mean, you and I don’t agree on everything, look at this clash now, and yet we’re cool.”
Maher Eviscerated Kimmel's 'Bulls--t'
Acknowledging that Kimmel is nonetheless “one of the nicest guys” he knows, Maher proceeded to lay into the late-night host about respecting one another’s differences in opinion.
“I don’t just buy into the left-wing bulls--t, and I never stop making fun of the right-wing bulls--t at all,” Maher said. “And like, if that’s not good enough for you, then I think you’re the a--hole, and I don’t think Jimmy is an a--hole…I think he’s a great guy, and it bugs me that, you know, because of what the latest thing was, that, you know, we may never talk again.”
BILL MAHER, JIMMY KIMMEL
Maher Previously Bashed Kimmel's Wife
Though Maher didn’t specifically state on the recent podcast episode why he and Kimmel fell out, the Real Time host lambasted the comedian’s wife, Molly McNearney, for excommunicating her Trump-supporting family members. "It hurts me so much because of the personal relationship I now have where my husband is out there fighting this man," McNearney said in a joint interview with Kimmel in November on theWe Can Do Hard Things podcast. "To me, them voting for Trump is them not voting for my husband and me and our family. And I, unfortunately, have kind of lost relationships with people in my family because of it.”
Maher responded on an episode of Real Time, mocking the manner in which McNearney went about spreading her message. "She says she’s lost relationships with relatives because she wrote them an email before the election with ten reasons why they shouldn’t vote for Trump, and some still didn’t obey, so you know. Ultimatums. Ten reasons? I can think of 100. But I would never present it to someone as an ultimatum,” Maher said. “Ultimatums don’t make people rethink their politics. They make them rethink you.”
In aClub Random episode released in December, Maher doubled down on his criticism. "I was as kid-gloved as I could,” he said of his initial remarks. "And I see they’re mad at me. Uh, I’m sorry. I mean, I was being, again, as respectful as I could, but I don’t agree with that point of view. And since she went public with it, it wasn’t out of school for me to go public with it. I love Jimmy. I always have. I don’t know him that well, but he’s a great guy… I hope we’re friends forever, but I don’t know. You know, the liberals and the woke, that’s a schism. It just is.”