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Bill Maher apologizes for N-word. HBO/Sasse also comment

johnsmith

remember me
Sneak preview of this Friday's show:

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http://www.theroot.com/bill-maher-books-michael-eric-dyson-in-a-desperate-atte-1795865650

After apologizing for casually tossing the n-word out on live TV, low-key racist and prominent liberal douchebag Bill Maher has replaced Sen. Al Franken with scholar Michael Eric Dyson on Friday's episode of Real Time With Bill Maher.

According to Variety magazine, Maher announced earlier that Ice Cube will also appear on the show, but when Franken refused to appear because of Maher's racist epithet, the show reached out to Dyson in what is shaping up to be the HBO late-night talk show's blackest episode yet.
 
Bill Maher got absolutely hammered tonight on the show. It lasted from the beginning to near the end. Ice Cube in particular wasn't having any of Bill's shit.
 

I really hate people like Mahr who pretend to be all "anti-PC" and not give a damn about other's feelings but then shit like this happens and they go STRAIGHT into Mea Culpa "Some of my best friends are x!" mode.

Really exposes them for the cowards they are.

Bill Maher got absolutely hammered tonight on the show. It lasted from the beginning to near the end. Ice Cube in particular wasn't having any of Bill's shit.

Might actually have to watch tonight then...
 

Mr Cola

Brothas With Attitude / The Wrong Brotha to Fuck Wit / Die Brotha Die / Brothas in Paris
lol so all of y'all tuned in to watch Maher get ostracized by a bunch of black guests? That Esquire article absolutely nailed it,

What I was thinking, instead of viewing in wouldnt it make a greater statement to avoid, not watch, Bill is there for ratings not for peoples sympathies, probably he really doesnt care that much what people think of him until it hurts him.
 

Oersted

Member
What I was thinking, instead of viewing in wouldnt it make a greater statement to avoid, not watch, Bill is there for ratings not for peoples sympathies, probably he really doesnt care that much what people think of him until it hurts him.

He is like Vixdean in a way, he cares alot. His caring is just a tad different.
 

celljean89

Neo Member
Well I saw the clips I needed to see, I get that he is sorry. But I'm not going to watch Real Time in the future, and I can't forgive him for saying a House Nigger joke. I hope he realize that being ally is not saying a slur, and to not belittle his allies. Also it doesn't matter if its the comedian in him and it was an easy joke to do. You don't have the right to say nigger or nigga. Only black people can, and that shit bugs me that people who are so-called allies that's willing to sweep this under the rug.
 
lol so all of y'all tuned in to watch Maher get ostracized by a bunch of black guests? That Esquire article absolutely nailed it,

This begs two questions:

1. If Maher intentionally brought on black guests to tell him off and make him apologize, were they in on that plan?

2. And if the answer to #1 is no, then does that mean that Maher used these people solely for his own personal gain?

If the answer to #2 is yes, then Maher is even a bigger POS than I thought he was.
 
What I was thinking, instead of viewing in wouldnt it make a greater statement to avoid, not watch, Bill is there for ratings not for peoples sympathies, probably he really doesnt care that much what people think of him until it hurts him.
Ratings don't matter unless people have a Nielsen box. Zero difference if people watch or not. Even more so since Maher's show is on HBO, which is a premium channel making ratings stuff apply even less and if people are subscribing for something like Game of Thrones it really makes no difference whether they actually tune in to watch Maher or not. Doing so neither helps nor hurts Maher.
 

MKIL65

Member

Ice Cube described it perfectly. I also said it in another thread: It's a discrimination tool, in the hands of anyone that isn't black. Because of it's history.

Not just a ''word''... That some people wants to proclaim.

Anyway, he was extremely kind in the way he said it, which wasn't necessary. Cause I expect this Bill guy to fuck up again in the future.
 

Mr Cola

Brothas With Attitude / The Wrong Brotha to Fuck Wit / Die Brotha Die / Brothas in Paris
Watching the apology clips now and couldnt help but feel Bill and the guy were talking past each other somewhat, I dont think Bill really engaged with the level of apology the guy believed he was offering.
 
I really hate people like Mahr who pretend to be all "anti-PC" and not give a damn about other's feelings but then shit like this happens and they go STRAIGHT into Mea Culpa "Some of my best friends are x!" mode.

Really exposes them for the cowards they are.

People that cry about PC culture or proclaim to be super anti-PC are basically those that want to be able to say or express whatever bigoted shit they want without repercussions.
 

Mr Cola

Brothas With Attitude / The Wrong Brotha to Fuck Wit / Die Brotha Die / Brothas in Paris
Also Maher cutting off Ice cube to say "I think the people watching this show think that point has been made"

Gotta admit thats unsettling, the very least you can do, agree or not, is give the floor, ill be honest I dont watch a lot of Bill, I dont consider myself a part of the left or right and I dont particularly like the rhetoric that goes around in politics or how people handle discussion in general, but this doesnt feel like someone owning up in the correct way.
 

Enzom21

Member
This apologizing and having to listen to black people criticize his "humor" must be killing him inside.
It might be enough to drive a man to support Trump.
Hammered how? Like just on different topics or everyone bitching about the n-word?

Bitching about the n-word? No, there was discussion about why non-black people shouldn't say it. There was no "bitching." Interesting that that's how you would characterize it.
 

finowns

Member
Watching the apology clips now and couldnt help but feel Bill and the guy were talking past each other somewhat, I dont think Bill really engaged with the level of apology the guy believed he was offering.

I doubt he is really apologetic, he's 61 years old the idea this has shook his values or changed his outlook is something I find hard to believe.
 

Got

Banned
It's amazing that he can't even see it after Dyson tells him to his face that his reflexive use of it is an example of the larger issue. Like what the fuck, man.
 

Slayven

Member
Bill doesn't care, and he will learn nothing. And it is a matter of time before he fucks up again.

But I did like that Cube laid it out like that.
 
lol so all of y'all tuned in to watch Maher get ostracized by a bunch of black guests? That Esquire article absolutely nailed it,

Idunno. While Bill seemed resistant at points to owning up to his mistake, he seemed genuinely uncomfortable with all the heat he was taking. That said, I'm still disappointed he didn't lose his show. So many liberals let Bill slide and made excuses for him when they'd be signing change.org petitions over and over again if Hannity, Chris Wallace, Tucker Carlson or whoever else used the word in a similar context. The fact that progressives have chosen to circle the wagons around Bill does us no favors. We look like hypocrites right now. We can't rant and rave about Donald Trump's racism and then snuggle up with a guy who literally uses the N-word in the context of slavery and expect to be taken seriously.
 
Idunno. While Bill seemed resistant at points to owning up to his mistake, he seemed genuinely uncomfortable with all the heat he was taking. That said, I'm still disappointed he didn't lose his show. So many liberals let Bill slide and made excuses for him when they'd be signing change.org petitions over and over again if Hannity, Chris Wallace, Tucker Carlson or whoever else used the word in a similar context. The fact that progressives have chosen to circle the wagons around Bill does us no favors. We look like hypocrites right now. We can't rant and rave about Donald Trump's racism and then snuggle up with a guy who literally uses the N-word in the context of slavery and expect to be taken seriously.
Yup.
 

Zero315

Banned
Bill doesn't care, and he will learn nothing. And it is a matter of time before he fucks up again.

But I did like that Cube laid it out like that.

Exactly, Maher doesn't give a single fuck and you can tell by the way he acts. Such as his whole "I apologize and I'm not gonna make any excuses... but here are my excuses" bullshit, then the "Okay Cube, everyone gets it, move on" moment.

I don't think Dyson was soft at all. He was straightforward and thorough about how and why Bill fucked up.

Dyson wasn't necessarily soft, but there was a whole lot of Bill Maher dick sucking going on in that second clip that was posted.
 
Bill's been mostly on my shit list for 12 years. Sitting in a friend's double wide in Baton Rouge with my home under water and tuning in to see him trash all the victims of Katrina as being too stupid to move somewhere above sea level put me off. As if anyone ever says people are dumb to keep living in NYC or Sacramento. Maybe if this wasn't at the same time that people were getting rescued off of the roofs of projects and Bush was proving he didn't give a shit about us, I might have kept a "sense of humor". Seeing this bullshit and the subsequent bullshit dismissive apology come out of his mouth comes as no surprise to me.
 

Gattsu25

Banned
Jeeze. Bill Maher spent the entire last minute of that video either disagreeing with or just trying to shut Ice Cube up while Ice Cube was dropping knowledge on him. Unfortunately for him, the audience sided with Cube.

"I think the people watching now are saying that point has been made" in an annoyed voice reads to me as "We get it, just shut the fuck up already please".

Ice Cube really was out there to hold out an olive branch, though.
 

Shy

Member
Jeeze. Bill Maher spent the entire last minute of that video either disagreeing with or just trying to shut Ice Cube up while Ice Cube was dropping knowledge on him. Unfortunately for him, the audience sided with Cube.

"I think the people watching now are saying that point has been made" in an annoyed voice reads to me as "We get it, just shut the fuck up already please".

Ice Cube really was out there to hold out an olive branch, though.
And Maher very dismissively slapped it away.
 

L Thammy

Member
Maybe I'm making a weird connection, but:

There was an older video posted earlier where Maher has a panel discussing the word, and he talks down the black panelist and repeats the word to her. In that panel, Sarah Silverman is criticized for using a racial slur. She defends herself with "but I'm fighting racism" against criticism of "if your satire isn't done well, it supports what you're trying to satirize". Bill Maher rushes to her defense.

With Ice Cube, an exchange occurs that seems to run along the same lines. Ice Cube tells Maher that he makes a lot of black jokes. Maher responds with "but it's to fight racism". I think the "sometimes you sound like a redneck trucker" is making the same point that Silverman was criticized with.

I feel like when you compare that to cases like Chris Rock and Dave Chapelle where the comedians see that the joke is being used to support something harmful regardless of the original intent and then reverse their direction on it, it makes the defenses seen on the Maher panels seem like excuses to avoid responsibility. The egocentric nature of the argument (my intent is good, so the joke is okay) makes it seem like they don't really care about the effect; they're just claiming that they're fighting racism so they can feel free to use the slur.
 
Cube made Maher look like a fool. Maher's not sorry, obviously. He's just sorry he got caught. Reacting like I would if I got scolded by my GF for putting an empty bottle in the fridge.
 

SeeThree

Member
That said, I'm still disappointed he didn't lose his show.

If you had to go back and watch every episode front to back of the past 2 years and make a montage of clips everytime Bill "punched up" for you and then a seperate batch of clips where he "stabbed" you.

One of these would have the run time of a long movie trilogy and the other would be more like a commercial in length. This excuses nothing. Just something I thought as a white guy that watches all the shows.
 

finowns

Member
I haven't watched the Ice Cube part but it must be a bit hypocritical for him to criticize someone over using a slur.
 

Daingurse

Member
Then he went on to say, except for when you're rapping along at one of his shows.

Why is it cool in that situation?

Didn't catch that part in the youtube clip I watched. I don't agree with that. I honestly don't know what to tell non-black fans of rap. Never had to deal with that "dilemma" since I'm black. One of the few perks, I guess.
 
Maybe I'm making a weird connection, but:

There was an older video posted earlier where Maher has a panel discussing the word, and he talks down the black panelist and repeats the word to her. In that panel, Sarah Silverman is criticized for using a racial slur. She defends herself with "but I'm fighting racism" against criticism of "if your satire isn't done well, it supports what you're trying to satirize". Bill Maher rushes to her defense.

With Ice Cube, an exchange occurs that seems to run along the same lines. Ice Cube tells Maher that he makes a lot of black jokes. Maher responds with "but it's to fight racism". I think the "sometimes you sound like a redneck trucker" is making the same point that Silverman was criticized with.

I feel like when you compare that to cases like Chris Rock and Dave Chapelle where the comedians see that the joke is being used to support something harmful regardless of the original intent and then reverse their direction on it, it makes the defenses seen on the Maher panels seem like excuses to avoid responsibility. The egocentric nature of the argument (my intent is good, so the joke is okay) makes it seem like they don't really care about the effect; they're just claiming that they're fighting racism so they can feel free to use the slur.

I usually like Sarah Silverman but in that segment which was many years ago, she was garbage and this whole white liberal thing of "but I'm your ally, why are you criticising me versus actual racists, I'm not racist, let me use this word" is tiring. I hope that with time she's gotten more astute.
 
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