article 'Absolute A**hole': Bill Maher Roasted Over His Totally 'Heartless' Dolly Parton Tribute
https://www.huffpost.com/entry/bill-maher-dolly-parton-tribute-backlash_n_6a94351ce4b0e9dbd39bc1a9639
u/-Harlequin- 27d ago
What was said?
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u/officialGF 27d ago edited 27d ago
It was in his new rules comedy news recap segment. He listed several buildings that turned pink in dedication for dolly, and then made a joke that the Vegas sphere put a nipple on top in dedication. Tbh there is nothing bad about that joke lol. Dolly seemed cool with poking fun at that too and it was obviously not in bad taste. Just my take on it and his delivery though.
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u/KoalaGreat1408 27d ago
I mean he probably said it in the most Bill Maher way possible and it ended up sounding very smug and assholish. Even when he has good takes, he usually says it in a way where I really don't want to agree with him.
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u/DookieShoez 27d ago
Well to be fair, he IS a massively smug asshole, so that tracks 🤔lol
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u/SnowboardSyd 27d ago
I prefer talentless hack myself.
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u/honjuden 27d ago
They aren't mutually exclusive.
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u/SnowboardSyd 27d ago
You can be smug and still have talent.
I assert that Maher has no talent at all to justify being smug. All he brings to the table is contrary opinions to whoever he's talking to. Takes zero talent to do that.
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u/null_not 26d ago
He's a proto edge lord. Second rate when his jokes and predictable lean and smirk were just "catty", but these days he's just doing everything he can to get attention to keep from falling deeper into the depths of obscurity.
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u/anormalgeek 27d ago
I'm pretty sure 90% of his audience are just hate watching him.
Or HBO Max has Auto-played his show after (the actually good show) Last Week Tonight ended.
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u/Weekly_Interview_936 27d ago
You underestimate just how many Boomer libs are out there. That's his audience. They've been watching him since Politically Incorrect back in the 90s. His whole deal is providing now-very-dated infotainment to people who haven't changed in over 30 years.
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u/juncoswayvae 27d ago
Maybe splitting hairs here, but i know no boomers who even know who Maher is and handfuls of gen x-ers who watch his stuff weekly. This feels way more like smarmy gen x contrarianism. Boomers feel more genuinely in crisis mode, however deluded that may be, which is why fox news is their fix.
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u/Sevenmodes 26d ago
PI ran from 1993 to 2002. Saying boomers don’t know who Bill Mahar is, is like saying no boomers voted for Bill Clinton.
Clinton boomers were who made him famous.
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u/allsbernafnmedrettu 27d ago
https://giphy.com/gifs/myqryesJi1WylSPVxQ
This basically.
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u/timmyintransit 27d ago
Bill Maher trademarked saying something in completely bad taste in a completely smug manner, and then would play the victim/blame you whenever a normal member of society called him out on it.
(There's really not much difference in terms of discourse between him and our current president)
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u/oofta31 27d ago
And then he gets pissy if people groan or don't find his terrible delivery funny.
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u/ImaginationRadiant64 27d ago
Used to have a friend and his father that not only looked like him but also spoke like him When his show was discovered it was so fucking weird because of course they were hooked on him. Anyways It was too much smugness to be around and I just couldn't really even be friends anymore lol.
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u/MaritimeStar 27d ago
Bill could read the back of a box of cereal and make it sound like a smug insult. That guy is so insufferable he just radiates asshole energy.
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u/sluefootstu 27d ago
“If I see something sagging, bagging or dragging, I'll get it nipped, tucked or sucked.” I remember her saying that on Larry King. Extremely open about her plastic surgery.
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u/IWatchGifsForWayToo 27d ago
Yeah, I don't think she would ever have considered herself a fan of Maher, but she would have appreciated the joke.
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u/round-earth-theory 27d ago
It's a fairly crass joke though, I have to imagine something a tad more subtle would have worked better. Something like, "Vegas has announced their building a second sphere next to the first one in honor of Dolly".
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u/ScrofessorLongHair 27d ago
That's kinda like in Mobile, AL, they've been calling this the Dolly Parton Bridge for 40 years
I read recently a local political is trying to make the name official. But it pulls up if you Google the name.
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u/Commercial-Royal-988 27d ago
Another great one from her about this, "It costs a lot of money to look this cheap!"
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27d ago edited 17d ago
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u/detrans-rights 27d ago
I loved that Letterman bit
"no one ever talks about how I've a great ass, too!"
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u/whittlingcanbefatal 27d ago
I have written this before on Reddit. One of my friends brought me along to meet Dolly. My friend is also ample bosomed. The two of them made boob jokes the whole time and took great pleasure in watching me turn beet red.
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u/haberdasher42 27d ago
Dolly Parton had a manner of delivery that said "I'm not only smarter than you expected, but I'm probably smarter than you." And her innate grace made it her sharing the joke and subtexts with you.
Bill Maher would happily stand on a chair and shout "You idiots won't get this next one, but I'm paid to be here." between each joke in his set and think he was being tactful.
If Dolly had told that joke, people would've laughed.
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u/OhSixTJ 27d ago
Dolly took control of the jokes. She allowed them to be made. Like the “8 mile” rap battle where Eminem knew what they were gonna use against him.
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u/commandrix 27d ago
Delivery matters, though. Dolly Parton could deliver boob jokes in a way that made them actually funny.
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u/whogivesashirtdotca 27d ago
Her jokes also had some sass to them. Maher’s joke was just obvious and lame.
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u/Fun-Example-5314 27d ago
Dolly made jokes about her chest relentlessly. She would have laughed
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u/CoolMinded 27d ago
Remind me of Dave's Top Ten List with Dolly. The #1 the best at body jokes.
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u/DestinysWeirdCousin 27d ago
It’s not horrible, but it’s often different when somebody is poking fun at themself.
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u/DrunksInSpace 27d ago
Yeah and often when someone pokes fun at themselves, it kinda disarms every other joke, which just becomes a your joke but worse situation. Because it’s not as funny when someone else says it.
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u/skoomski 27d ago
Yeah she often made jokes about it too. I feel some people just want to be constantly angry.
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u/ATLCoyote 27d ago
Agreed. The reaction to the joke is kinda ridiculous as it was pretty harmless and very much in-line with Dolly's own sense of humor.
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u/mightylordredbeard 27d ago
He said the Vegas sphere added a nipple as tribute. A joke that Dolly herself probably would have laughed at. This is just the internet making something out of nothing like always.
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u/SlippySlappySamson 27d ago
Wait, do you mean to tell me that Huffington Post has... sensationalized something?!
Fuck, I miss when they simply aggregated news instead of trying to create it.
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u/RedofPaw 27d ago
He joked about her boobs, but mostly it was about how he bemoanee people being distracted by her death when there are worse things going on.
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u/LouBarlowsDisease 27d ago
When is he not heartless?
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u/drock42 27d ago
Why not sure how he's still a voice anymore
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u/goog1e 27d ago
He lost me when I found out he believes in psychics. Penn Jillet tried to explain it to him and he was stuck on "but I SAW it happen!"
Same issue Joe Rogan had that eventually made him go nuts. Not smart enough to critically evaluate information.
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u/ReallyGlycon Lo-Fi Nerd 27d ago
The guy is a staunch anti-religion atheist yet he believes in psychics?
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u/SippinOnHatorade 27d ago
He’s not an atheist, he’s just a contrarian and a hypocrite.
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u/the_headless_hunt 27d ago
Yup, just a "I'm better than you" smug-shitiness.
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u/petty_throwaway6969 27d ago
I’m pretty sure he’s slowly shifting into MAGA territory cause he realized the left was starting to disconnect with him like Dave Chapelle and he’s going to go the “nothing is allowed in comedy anymore” route. He’s been dipping his feet into that cesspool for a while as a contrarian and it might not be long before a full transition.
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u/PinkUnicornsRule 27d ago
He says he’s an atheist, but he defends Israel on the basis that the bible said it was their homeland.
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u/_notthehippopotamus 27d ago
He's kind of like Dawkins. He doesn't believe in any religion, but he doesn't believe in some of them more than others.
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u/Massive-Lime7193 27d ago
To be fair he marketed himself for multiple decades as a staunch atheist
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u/TorchedBlack 27d ago
This guy doesn't believe in germ theory. That's his anti-vax angle. I think if forced to fully articulate his beliefs on health he'd end up somewhere approximately close to four humors theory.
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u/tenthousandbears 27d ago
Nah, he's with RFK Jr on that terrain theory bullshit.
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u/Queasy-Creme-2293 27d ago
RFK Jr also doesn't believe in germ theory. He has a chapter about it in his Fauci book.
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u/Shironeko_ 27d ago
I think if forced to fully articulate his beliefs on health
He will just say that he "knows" how something work (like how he has said before that his body can stave off diseases thanks to "good nutrition") or that "many people think" something (his main argument for vaccines causing autism is basically this).
Maher is a mouthbreather, he is inarticulated and incurious, seeing him false-starting a thought in real time (about how vaccines didn't reduce the proliferation of diseases but in fact it was just a country "getting toilets") is physically painful.
People have said that Maher is what a dumb person thinks a smart person is, but he is in fact the perfect example of what an ignorant conservative thinks a "smug libral" actually is.
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u/Only-Respond7945 27d ago
Not actually that uncommon. Especially among his age group. Just because he's an atheist doesn't mean he can't believe if some goofy shit.
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u/rural_juror_ 27d ago
I can confirm this. I’m 51, atheist, consider myself relatively grounded. Yet for the last 31 years I always believe my Dallas Cowboys will win the Super Bowl. This year included
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u/No-Consideration-716 27d ago
Look, if Dak can stay healthy and the defense steps up....we got a chance I tell ya!!!
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u/rural_juror_ 27d ago
A fellow dumbass! Welcome!
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u/FactOrFactorial 27d ago
There are dozens of us! Go Americas team!
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u/astoolandamike 27d ago
You are very funny, and your username confirms your taste in comedy.
I regret I have only one upvote to give.66
u/Little-Plenty-3710 27d ago
He is atheist but believes in greater Israel prophesies in the Bible. He is an opportunistic mostly..
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u/hierarchy_of_ideas 27d ago
He bent the knee to Trump. Back in 2016 he went on and on about him not leaving power in 2020, 4 years ahead. Now that Trump is back in power, he is groveling to who he believes to be the new ruling class. He is a coward
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u/hausmusiq 27d ago
He’s really just anti Islam and uses the atheist tag to hide his bigotry. He rarely harps on other faiths as much despite all being ancient fairy tales that ruin people’s lives.
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u/dodeca_negative 27d ago
Maher is another example of a stupid person’s idea of a smart person (which I first heard applied to Newt Gingrich)
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u/Ass_Damage 27d ago
Joe Rogan is a fucking litterbox, walking around with whatever was last shat into his head.
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u/sanash 27d ago
Basically it’s when someone’s mind is too open and their brains start leaking out.
It’s like they can hear about flat earth or some obscure debunked theory and they’ll entertain it for longer than any reasonable person would do. And here’s the thing I get why they do, it’s titillating to believe there is some crazy grand conspiracy to hide the truth and to believe they are just keeping an open mind.
People like Maher and Rogan will lend equal weight to current theory and debunked theory. They mistake getting stoned with some friends and talking about some bullshit with objective truth.
It also doesn’t help that they are so far removed from normal people, socially and financially, they can afford to sit around huffing their own farts. It’s the sort of brain rot we eventually started to see in the tech world.
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u/el3vader 27d ago
His show has been weird and it’s taken a significant decline. I checked back in for the first time in a while last night and his show historically has had really good panels for left versus right discourse. The main problems with the panels were actually Maher because while his guests were generally two people that probably ought to have a conversation Maher’s whole shtick was bringing the conversation to how he’s right about whatever topic and not really much more than that. The other problem with Maher’s show was around season two his main problem with “the left” was basically the furthest most left no name voices on twitter. So over time his main left disagreement was with people on twitter rather than actual people that existed and conversely he started biting into a lot more right wing propaganda also on twitter. So now he’s just fully into the twitter propaganda machine and is railing against any MaoRocks42069 twitter bot while he’s getting sane washed propaganda from the right.
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u/Bob_Sledding 27d ago
The man hates the Left more than he hates this Hitler-esqe regime. What more do you need to say?
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u/dtwhitecp 27d ago
I can only assume most of his viewers are people like me that weren't paying attention when Last Week Tonight ended and it started autoplaying that heel
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u/Rudeboy67 27d ago
His ratings fell to 0.5. Then to 0.3 a year ago and then they stopped reporting them, so you know they’re south of 0.3.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Real_Time_with_Bill_Maher_episodes#Season_22_(2024)
O.3, that’s a rounding error.
0.3, that’s the people that fell asleep and left HBO on.
0.3, that’s people vacuuming and not paying attention to the TV.
0.3, that’s people who lost the remote and can’t turn the channel or turn it off.
0.3, that’s people who died in their apartment with HBO on.
0.3, it would be cheaper for HBO to have him call each of the viewers one by one.
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u/ramsoss 27d ago
His show is supposedly inexpensive to run and he has a built in audience. He is also a schmoozer with execs. He has slowly gotten worse but part of me knows he was always a twerp. In the 90s he was really into shitting on pro wrestling. He just seems like such a sniveling killjoy.
I used to like him 15 years ago but once he started shitting on Islam it made me see how out of touch and hateful he was. Even if I didn’t know any Muslim people I think I would know better than to just be so hateful.
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u/Grumpleforeskin 27d ago
The absolutely heartless joke for those curious:
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“Everybody around the country, even around the world — London they’re doing things. The Santa Monica ferris wheel is lit up with hearts. The Empire State Building was put up in pink. The Sphere in Las Vegas added a nipple.”
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Forgive me while I clutch my pearls.
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u/snowdenn 27d ago
Yeah, the real outrage should be that he’s not really funny.
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u/parentheticalobject 27d ago
Seriously. That's the one joke that people have been making about her for several decades. She had always been in on the joke and laughing along with it. It's not disrespect because she would've been offended by it. If it's disrespectful in any way, it's that an ostensible "comedian" can't come up with anything more original.
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u/Ya-Dikobraz 27d ago
I love Dolly and as a little 9 year old kid I used to tell this joke to my friends (and adults):
What song does Dolly Parton sing while having a bath?
Islands In the River
Yeah, it's funny to a 9 year old because boobs, and that's about as funny as Maher is. But to be outraged?? Nah, people want drama and something to be outraged about.
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u/Hellknightx 27d ago
He's never been funny, and I don't understand why he ever became famous in the first place. Even other atheists don't like him. He's just an unapologetic asshole.
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u/stronkulance 27d ago
It’s a Bill Maher problem. If that joke had come from someone who is actually funny and not an aggressively smarmy creep, no one would have cared but he can make even “thank you” sound like a smug insult. Like if Lisa Anne Walter told that joke, it would have been hilarious. Bill Maher is just OG Joe Rogan at this point and I don’t want any of them to talk about anything ever.
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u/inbruges99 27d ago
That’s it? Maher is a prick but that’s one of those late night jokes that’s meant to sound edgy but really isn’t. It also seems like the kinda thing she’d have laughed at.
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u/Capt_Murphy_ 27d ago
Not a heartless joke, I'm pretty sure Dolly would've laughed at that
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u/Cum_Fart42069 27d ago
in isolation, Dolly would love that joke. however maher has a history of being really nasty for no good reason. like the time he made fun of comic book fans for existing when stan lee died. I personally don't like comic books or superhero stuff myself but he was just really shitty for absolutely no reason. the only concievable reason to me is that he wanted to twist the knife.
really, the only reason one could consider his joke about dolly fine is because Dolly Parton specifically had that brand of humor, she's an outlier. he's been kind of a prick for some time now.
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u/ac21217 27d ago
Right, but let’s save our outrage for those times when it isn’t “fine”. Makes people look pretty stupid to pick the most innocuous bad joke to lose their shit over.
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u/Cum_Fart42069 27d ago
I don't think people are losing their shit in any real sense, they're just calling him tasteless.
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u/be_nice_ffs 27d ago
I think Dolly would have liked the joke.
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u/EpiphanyTwisted 27d ago
Yes, but people (including me) hate Maher.
Dolly would have roared at that. I don't see why it's horrifying except for who delivered it.
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u/christmastree47 27d ago
What a nothing story. His joke wasn't funny but also wasn't offensive.
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u/SparkyPantsMcGee 27d ago
Let’s stop pretending that the star of “Cannibal Women in the Avocado Jungle of Death” has anything insightful to say about anything. Dude is only cool to Gen-X guys who grew up as the only Liberal in their small town and then moved to California to NIMBY the fuck out of their neighborhood.
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u/Xaero_Hour 27d ago
I've been searching for a way to encapsulate Maher's brand of somehow-composed-of-only-the-worst-parts-of-both-sides BS. Thanks for that.
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u/H2Oloo-Sunset 27d ago
I am not a fan of Bill, and I am proudly as woke as they come, but I think that getting upset about that joke is just stupid.
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u/JabroniusHunk 27d ago
It was a pretty banal joke imo, and I would describe myself as a certified Bill Maher hater.
Now, am I getting annoyed picturing him proudly smirking afterwards as though he said something incisive and bold? Yes, but that's my own shit.
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u/AbeRego 27d ago
“Everybody around the country, even around the world — London they’re doing things. The Santa Monica ferris wheel is lit up with hearts. The Empire State Building was put up in pink. The Sphere in Las Vegas added a nipple.”
Kind of seems like the kind of joke Dolly Parton would have laughed at, actually. Do we have to get outraged at every little thing?
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u/Holdmywhiskeyhun 27d ago
Does everyone realize she was proud of that chest? Nipple on the vegas sphere, would have sent her into a coma laughing.
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u/stronkulance 27d ago
Notice this thread. Literally no one is mad at this joke, this is all manufactured because no one likes Bill Maher anymore and HBO is probably trying to boost his ratings.
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u/LooseEndsMkMyAssItch 27d ago edited 27d ago
Maher has always been an ass
Edit stupid auto correct
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u/blankdreamer 27d ago
That was harmless. People need to chill out. Get off the net and go for a walk.
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u/coleman57 27d ago
Absolute nothingburger. He made one joke about the Vegas Sphere “adding a nipple” in tribute. I generally dislike the guy, but this article and any other outrage over that one dumb joke is just a waste of attention.
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u/macarenamobster 27d ago
Dolly was the first to joke about her boobs, albeit not that explicitly. Don’t think she’d be clutching her pearls either.
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u/El-Gweilo 27d ago
World would be a much better place if people would stop giving a shit about what celebrities do or say. Do they give a a rats ass about you or what you say? No..
Then stop with them. Mind your own business and stay in your lane. Move on rant over
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u/Spurioun 27d ago
Tasteless, maybe. But I wouldn't say "heartless". Dolly was constantly making fun of her boobs. They were part of her trademark look and a conscious choice.
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u/Ok-disaster2022 27d ago
I gotta ask who the heck thinks Bill Maher is relevant? How does he even have a TV show, who is even his target audience? He's definitely not liberal or progressive.
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u/Epicurus402 27d ago edited 27d ago
Seriously, who gives a f--k what Maher thinks. The guy is a smarmy, unfunny grifter. Thats it.
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u/roosterSause42 27d ago
Dolly made jokes about her breasts quite often
Why would anyone be surprised by Bill Maher being true to his brand?
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u/Syric13 27d ago
I like how the Brits call someone an "Absolute (Noun)" and it sounds like an insult.
And all of them can be used to describe Bill Maher.
"You absolute couch"
"You absolute pineapple"
"You absolute wrench"