Bill Maher, host of HBO’s Real Time and the Club Random podcast, called out fellow comedian Jimmy Kimmel on Monday for not thanking him publicly after Maher defended him during a recent suspension. The comments were made during a new episode of Club Random, where Maher spoke with actor Michael Rapaport about the situation.
Maher said he was surprised and disappointed to be left out of Kimmel’s thank-yous after the ABC host returned from his temporary removal. “Look, Jimmy apparently doesn’t like me too much anymore because he thanked everybody but me. And I was adamant, adamant, about supporting him that week and the next week,” Maher told Rapaport.
Kimmel was suspended by ABC in early October after he allegedly suggested on air that Tyler Robinson, the suspect in the assassination of conservative activist Charlie Kirk, was a Trump supporter. At the time, various reports indicated Robinson had left-leaning political views, and Kimmel’s remarks were quickly criticized for being inaccurate. ABC responded by pulling Jimmy Kimmel Live! from its late-night lineup for several days, reportedly under pressure from both advertisers and internal legal review.
Maher, who has long branded himself as a politically independent voice, stood up for Kimmel despite disagreeing with his claims. “Look, I don’t think what he said was exactly right. I don’t,” Maher said. “We don’t agree on that. He shouldn’t lose his job for it!”
Maher went further on his Real Time show, taking a jab at ABC for its handling of the controversy. “ABC – they are steady. ABC stands for ‘Always Be Caving,’” he said. In the same breath, he offered support to Kimmel with his usual sharp edge. “So Jimmy, pal, I am with you. I support you. And on the bright side, you don’t have to pretend anymore that you like Disneyland.”
Though Maher’s tone was partly humorous, the frustration behind his comments was clear. He said he defended Kimmel not because he agreed with him, but because he believed in free speech and fair consequences. “Like I said, I can’t lie and say I think what he said was accurate, but I was adamant that he shouldn’t be thrown off the air,” Maher explained on his podcast.
Bill Maher tells Michael Rapaport there’s one big problem with today’s late-night hosts like Jimmy Kimmel.
“My problem with him and hosts like that—is that they’re ideologically captured by one side.”
Maher said the left-wing echo chamber is exactly what led Kimmel to falsely… pic.twitter.com/8BlFUBxwOL
— Overton (@overton_news) November 3, 2025
The HBO host, who himself was fired by ABC in 2002 after controversial remarks about the 9/11 hijackers, acknowledged that late-night television has shifted in tone and political alignment over the years. According to Maher, that shift has alienated many viewers.
“My problem with him and hosts like that, quite frankly – they’re all quite similar in this regard – is that they’re ideologically captured by one side,” Maher told Rapaport. “It’s just not what I do or what I’m doing.”
He noted that many Americans feel left out by the mainstream media’s focus on one perspective. “There’s a reason why half the country feels insulted by them and has turned off to them,” Maher said, pointing to a broader cultural divide that has grown in recent years.
Kimmel has not publicly responded to Maher’s comments as of Monday evening.
While the disagreement between the two comedians might seem like a small rift, it shines a light on the bigger tensions happening in entertainment and media. With the country still politically divided in the final months of President Trump’s second term, voices like Maher’s—who criticize both sides—continue to stir the pot, whether they intend to or not.
As for Maher, it seems what stings most isn’t politics—it’s being forgotten by someone he went out of his way to defend.
Fox News Digital reached out to Kimmel’s reps for comment; no response was noted.
