Bill Maher took umbrage with CNN’s Chris Wallace for confronting him over the cancellation of the comedian’s show by Disney-owned ABC more than two decades ago after he made controversial comments about the Sept. 11, 2001 terrorist attacks.
“First of all, this is so old,” Maher told Wallace, adding: “Really? That’s of interest still?”
Maher, who hosts HBO’s “Real Time,” appeared on Wallace’s interview show “Who’s Talking to Chris Wallace,” which airs on corporate sister CNN as well as the Max streaming service — all three of which are subsidiaries of Warner Bros. Discovery — over the weekend.
The interview was reported by the news site Mediaite.
During the interview, Wallace brought up Maher’s ouster as host of ABC’s “Politically Incorrect,” the late-night political talk show whose format is similar to that of “Real Time.”
Wallace prefaced the clip by saying that Maher made a comparison between the US military and the Al-Qaeda hijackers — a claim that Maher denied.
Wallace then played a clip showing Maher during the Sep. 17, 2001 episode that included panelist Dinesh D’Souza, who said of the hijackers: “These are warriors. And we have to realize that the principles of our way of life are in conflict with people in the world.”
“And so — I mean, I’m all for understanding the sociological causes of this, but we should not blame the victim,” D’Souza continued on the episode which was taped just six days after nearly 3,000 people died in the terrorist attacks.
“Americans shouldn’t blame themselves because other people want to bomb them.”
Maher agreed with D’Souza, adding: “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,” Maher said.
The comment sparked outrage. Advertisers withdrew their support for the show while some ABC affiliates nationwide declined to air the program.
Months later, ABC canceled the show, ending an eight-year run.
After Wallace played the clip, Maher appeared somewhat defensive, telling the host: “That wasn’t about the military. [It was about] [w]e as a society.”
“Well, I know, but, the missiles, it wasn’t the grocer who was lobbying them,” Wallace replied as the interview grew increasingly tense.
“Yeah, and the military didn’t pay for them either. Okay, that’s just that was, that was — first of all, this is so old. Really? That’s of interest still?” Maher wondered.
Wallace replied that “we’re talking about your career.” He then wondered whether Maher was “just trying to be contrarian.”
“Of course not,” Maher said. “I was agreeing with somebody who said that.”
He told Wallace: “You skipped that part of it.”
Maher doubled down on his remarks, saying that “sticking with the suicide mission” was “not cowardly.”
When Wallace asked Maher if he regretted the comment, Maher replied: “I regret having said that that night.”
Maher said that he was “telling the truth as I saw it.”
“We never lost ratings. We never lost the audience. What we lost was the sponsors,” he said.
Maher lamented that even though he was “cancelled” by ABC, he’s “glad” it happened “because I wound up in so much of a better place.”
“Real Time with Bill Maher” is currently in the middle of its 22nd season on HBO. The cable network renewed the show for an additional two seasons — ensuring it remains on the air through 2026.
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