Bill Maher Demands ‘Pushback On Cancel Culture’

During Friday’s episode of “Real Time” on HBO, host Bill Maher blasted “cancel culture,” telling his guests that “we need a pushback” on the movement.

Maher Slams Cancel Culture

Maher torched cancel culture while talking to Bari Weiss, a former New York Times Opinion editor, and Thomas Chatterton Williams, a columnist for Harper’s Magazine, according to Daily Beast.

The panel was discussing a letter signed by prominent liberals like Gloria Steinem and J.K. Rowling in which they warned that “free exchange of information and ideas, the lifeblood of a liberal society, is daily becoming more constricted.”

“As a guy who did a show called Politically Incorrect and another called Real Time, thank you, because we need a pushback on cancel culture,” Maher said. “What strikes me about it is the pushback is coming from liberals and almost everyone who signs this letter … is a liberal! Bari, the fact that you — they call you a centrist or right-winger! I mean, if a hip, millennial, Jewish bisexual girl living in San Francisco is not a liberal … who is these days?”

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Weiss Explains Evils Of Cancel Culture

Weiss, who resigned from The Times back in July over the publication’s intolerance, then explained how cancel culture differs from criticism.

“Criticism is great. What cancel culture is about is not criticism. It is about punishment. It is about making a person radioactive. It is about taking away their job,” Weiss said.

“It’s not just about punishing the sinner, it’s not just about punishing the person for being insufficiently pure,” she added. “It’s about this sort of secondary boycott of people who would deign to speak to that person or appear on a platform with that person. And we see just very obviously where that kind of politics gets us. If conversation with people that we disagree with becomes impossible, what is the way that we solve conflict?… It’s violence.” 

She then praised Trader Joe’s for refusing to submit to outraged leftists who demanded that they make changes to their brand to be more “woke.” 

“You’re right. That’s what we need more of,” Maher said. “Being able to speak freely is the lifeblood not only of democracy, of really just our way of life.”

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Maher’s Previous Cancel Culture Comments

This isn’t the first time Maher has slammed cancel culture. In March, he referred to it as a “cancer on progressivism” after Chris Matthews’ departure from MSNBC.

“MSNBC used to run this thing, ‘This is who we are.’ Well, I didn’t like who you were this week, and I don’t think a lot of people who work there liked this either, and I think this cancel culture is a cancer on progressivism,” Maher said. “Liberals always have to fight a two-front war. Republicans only have to fight the Democrats. Democrats have to fight the Republicans and each other.”

It’s interesting that even liberals are now growing wary of cancel culture. Maher and his fellow leftists should probably remember that this is a monster that they created themselves.