Bill Maher, the liberal comedian and host of ‘Real Time with Bill Maher,’ has publicly admitted to continuing fears of being canceled for his private remarks, even as he acknowledges a cultural shift in free speech attitudes. During a conversation with actress Drew Barrymore on his ‘Club Random’ podcast, Maher discussed the reduced danger of speaking out on controversial issues, attributing this to a ‘vibe shift’ against woke-ism over the past two years. However, he confessed to still fearing that his everyday conversations in public could be weaponized against him.
“We did have a vibe change because the Democrats lost so badly in 2024. The blush is off the rose on left-wing censorship and ‘Oh my God, you can’t say that.’ Stop telling me what I can do. What I can say. What I can think. Who my heroes are supposed to be. Just get the f— off me. That is what’s viscerally going on with me when I have issues with the left,” Maher stated. Barrymore praised him for his boldness and inquired if anything still ‘scared’ him. He responded, “Oh, what scares me is… at any moment, you can like say something that, really in private conversation, wouldn’t upset anybody. Yes. But these snitches and b—-es will be able to use it to attack and end you, which they did once on ‘Politically Incorrect.’”
Maher explained how he carries this ‘paranoia’ with him constantly, although it wasn’t as severe as other problems people face. He lamented, “I’m always… and now it’s like a running joke because you know, ‘Did anything bad happen?’ Like that sort of paranoia. No. Is it as bad as things other people go through? No. But living with that paranoia is not nothing.” He further remarked, “I don’t feel guilty saying that’s a complaint I have about life. Everybody has their complaints. That’s one of mine. Is it as bad as starving? No. But it’s not nothing. It kind of sucks that you can’t pull into the driveway without having a peaceable night at dinner without thinking, ‘Did anything bad happen?’”
The ‘Real Time’ host previously opened up about his worries about getting canceled in a 2023 CNN interview, saying, “It just makes me laugh when people say to me, ‘You know, you’re uncancellable.’ Are you kidding? In two seconds, I could get canceled. Anybody could.” Maher faced backlash for controversial remarks following 9/11, and ABC canceled ‘Politically Incorrect’ the following year amid declining advertiser support. Days after the terrorist attack, Maher insisted it was ‘cowardly’ for the U.S. to use cruise missiles overseas, while the terrorists who flew planes into the World Trade Center were ‘not cowardly.’ The liberal comedian faced intense backlash from viewers and advertisers at the time and ABC pulled the plug on his show the following year. In 2003, he launched ‘Real Time with Bill Maher,’ which continues to air on HBO.