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Bill Maher (born January 20, 1956) is an American comedian, actor, writer and producer. He received his Bachelor of Arts in English from Cornell University in 1978.
He is most notable as the former host of Politically Incorrect, which aired on the Comedy Central television network and later ABC. Maher is also the host of the HBO talk show Real Time with Bill Maher.
ABC decided not to renew Maher's contract for Politically Incorrect in 2002 after he made a controversial on-air remark, in which he objected to the President of the United States and others calling the September 11th terrorists cowardly: "We have been the cowards lobbing cruise missiles from 2,000 miles away. That's cowardly. Staying in the airplane when it hits the building, say what you want about it, it's not cowardly."
In the sensitive aftermath of the attacks, the remark was deemed too controversial for some financial supporters. Although some pundits supported Maher, pointing out the distinction between physical and moral cowardice, companies including FedEx and Sears Roebuck pulled their advertisements from the show, costing the show more than it returned. The show was subsequently cancelled on June 16, 2002. On June 22, 2002, six days after the cancellation of Politically Incorrect, Maher received the President's Award (for "championing free speech") from the Los Angeles Press Club.
In 2003, Maher became the host of Real Time with Bill Maher on the HBO cable television network, a debate show somewhat similar to Politically Incorrect, but with a narrower selection of guests.
Maher describes himself as a libertarian and celebrates libertarian figures such as Larry Elder and P.J. O'Rourke. Some of his stances, including privatizing social security, ending corporate welfare, and legalizing drugs, gambling, prostitution, and pornography are distinctively libertarian. He supported Bob Dole in the 1996 U.S. presidential election and is close friends with conservative pundit Ann Coulter. However, he also holds many Social Democrat positions, such as government regulation of powerful corporations, foreign aid, public schooling, a ban on homeschooling, campaign finance reform (which he has since repudiated, saying "OK, we tried it, it didn't work"), environmentalism, affirmative action, minimum wage laws, gun control, income redistribution through higher taxation as a means for the wealthy to pay for some of the advantages they enjoy as Americans, government funding for abortion, and support for Ralph Nader in the 2000 U.S. presidential election. Prior to the 2004 U.S. presidential election he became very forthright in his opposition to the reelection of George W. Bush and his support for John Kerry, even if he was not a perfect candidate, going so far as to publicly kneel on his show and beg Nader to drop out of the race (in a humorous fashion). As a result, he has often been accused of being a liberal or even a "libertine socialist" by political commentators such as Jonah Goldberg. Maher also supports the death penalty, though most liberals and libertarians do not.
According to court documents obtained by The Smoking Gun, in November 2004 Maher was sued for 9 million dollars by his ex-girlfriend, Nancy Johnson a.k.a. "Coco Johnsen", for palimony. Johnson claims that Maher did not fulfill promises made to her and that he physically and verbally abused her. [1] (http://www.thesmokinggun.com/archive/1111041coco1.html) Maher publicly refuted her allegations on Larry King Live on November 23, 2004.
Quotations
- Response to Dinesh D'Souza's assertion that the 9/11 terrorists were not cowards: "Exactly...We have been the cowards lobbing cruise missiles from 2,000 miles away. That's cowardly. Staying in the airplane when it hits the building, say what you want about it, it's not cowardly."
- "To me a real patriot is like a real friend. Who's your real friend? It's the person who tells you the truth. That's who my real friends are. So, you know, I think as far as our country goes, we need more people who will do that."
- "We have the Bill of Rights. What we need is a Bill of Responsibilities."
- "But isn't there something wrong when I'm the ONLY guy in the country that got fired for 9/11?"
- "If I had any interest in wooden sex with strings attached, I'd get married." - From New Rules segment, about puppets having sex in the film Team America: World Police.
- "Women cannot complain about men anymore until they start getting better taste in them."
- "Religion is a neurological disorder" on The Tonight Show with Jay Leno, about his views on religion.
Books authored by Bill Maher
External links
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Bill Maher
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