Comedian Bill Burr took Bill Maher to task over campus protests stemming from Israel's war in Gaza and cancel culture, among other topics, during Sunday's episode of the "Club Random with Bill Maher" podcast.
Maher during the episode alleged that campus protesters supporting Gazans are "in with the terrorists."
"They were for the Palestinians," Burr countered. The comedian added that he is "on the side of the kids," prompting a tense exchange.
MAHER: Yeah, that’s easy to say. You know, no one wants to see kids dead.
BURR: That was very brave of you to say that.
MAHER: No, I’m the one who’s actually brave on this.
BURR: Oh, pat yourself on the back.
MAHER: It’s easy to say, “I’m for the kids.” Who’s not for the kids? It comes down to real hard-nosed decisions. Like, a country –
BURR: Oh, stop talking like you’re a general
MAHER: A country got attacked. Israel got attacked.
BURR: I’m not saying they didn’t have a right to go – I’m just sitting there going, like, how do I look at what —
MAHER: They’re the only country in the world that, they get attacked, and then as soon as they counterattack, it’s like, well, we gotta stop this s**t now. “Don’t attack them” is a very simple solution to all this problem in the Middle East. Stop attacking Israel.
"You just solved it," Burr quipped in response. "That’s fantastic. Let’s go to Russia and the Ukraine. How do you solve that one, Bill? Let me hear your hard-nosed decision about that. Well, let me ask you a question. How is war still legal with all this s**t that’s been canceled? Why is that still f**king legal?"
"Would you like a real answer to that?" Maher replied. "Because for something to be illegal, you have to have the capacity to enforce it. And you can’t enforce against war, or else you have to go to war with the country that’s going to war. And we don’t want to go to war with Russia over Ukraine. What would be the sense of making it illegal? Oh, that’s really going to stop Putin."
"Sit down and talk it out? Why can’t Putin do a podcast with the head guy? Like you just solved the Middle East on a podcast. Why can’t they solve what they’re doing on a podcast?" Burr shot back.
"This is why this is not your thing. This is my thing," Maher said.
"It isn’t your thing. It isn’t. You’re like that guy that has a fantasy football team and thinks he’s a f**king GM. That’s exactly what it is. Like, why am I f**king listening to you like you like you’ve done something? What have you done in Washington? Nothing," Burr said.
Bill Burr ruthlessly roasts Maher for his bullshit takes on Palestine/Israel and states that he supports the student protestors pic.twitter.com/1KAIMezka1
— The Serfs (@theserfstv) May 13, 2024
Maher and Burr also tangled over "cancel culture" after the host mentioned disgraced comedian Louis C.K., who in 2017 acknowledged the veracity of sexual misconduct allegations that had been made against him. He was accused by several women of indecently exposing himself to them and masturbating.
“You have a very big future in filmmaking, very much like Louis C.K.” Maher said, per The Daily Beast. “Enough. Enough. It’s not the end of the world. People have done so much worse things and gotten less. There’s no rhyme or reason to the Me Too-type punishments.”
“Well, it was like most things,” Burr replied. “It started off with something everyone could agree on and then quickly it just spun out. I remember when cancel culture got to the point of where it was, ‘I don’t like some of the topics in your standup act.’ That’s when it got weird. But that’s all over.”
“What’s over?!” Maher asked. “Cancel culture?”
“Yeah,” Burr said. “No one cares anymore.”
“That’s so not true, either one of us could get canceled in the next two minutes,” Maher claimed.
“No. For what? If you’re not doing anything, it’s just like, you did this joke about this group of people or that group of people,” Burr said. “I feel like I’m going back two years of my life. I don’t even think about it anymore.”
“Eyeballs and controversy and people arguing and being offended and watching somebody get in trouble makes people stop on your website or your TV channel and watch,” Burr continued. “But it’s just not an accurate portrayal of where people’s heads are at. It just isn’t.”
