It looks like Bill Maher has gone too far with his recent on-air gaffe. During a recent taping with Senator Ben Sasse, he did the unthinkable.
Bill Maher said n****r.
In fact, he called himself a “House n****r”. The initial reaction was somewhat subdued, though he did draw some groans from his studio audience. The Senator from Nebraska wasn't put off by the comment, and the interview progressed from there.
The aftermath from this outburst has been far more potent, and there have been cries from all over the USA for Maher to be fired from his wildly popular HBO program.
So far, HBO has chastised Maher for his offensive language and decided to edit the comment from any further airings of the show.
Little known ground
For all the openness in US media culture, there are just some things that aren't done. And it would appear that Mr. Maher has found one of them. Though there were demands for his termination, Bill Maher found some surprising support.
In his Sunday sermon, the Rev. Al Sharpton chided Mr. Maher, though he also expressed respect for the outspoken liberal commentator. Senator Sasse found some stronger language after the cameras were pointed in another direction, and in a series of tweets, he sternly opposed the use of a word that has some many cultural connotations.
Senator Sasse called the remarks an “attack on universal dignity”, and also expressed his opinion that dropping the n-bomb is against the American Creed. What no one has addressed yet its use in popular culture, and more specifically rap music.
There are no hard and fast rules for dropping n-bombs but apparently, Bill Maher doesn't quite have the same linguistic license that was extended to the late Ol' Dirty Bastard.
People in glass houses
Bill Maher is a very public critic of President Trump, and many in the President's inner circle have been the target of heavy criticism from Mr. Maher in recent weeks. As President Trump pulled the US from the Paris Accords, Bill Maher was there to ignite a vicious attack against the President on Twitter.
For all the hay that Bill Maher has made at the expense of President Trump, the usually vocal real-estate mogul turned international power broker has been quiet on the matter.
Time will tell if President Trump decides to weigh in on Maher's latest controversial sound byte. If he does, will be joining a chorus of others, as everyone else in the USA seems to have a heartfelt opinion about a single word being spoken on premium cable television.
