Television

Watch: Bill Maher mocks Oprah, calls her a hypocrite

By Jeff MillsDecember 23rd, 2010, 4:22 pmComments (9)

Bill Maher

In case you missed it, Bill Maher gave Oprah Winfrey a big bah-humbug in a videotaped Christmas message posted on his website the other day. In what seems like cutting-room-floor material from Religulous, Maher takes the Queen of all Media to task for her epic giveaway show in which she gave studio audience members tons of expensive stuff — diamond earrings, iPads, and 2012 Volkswagen Beetles.

He seems to reserve a special ire for cashmere sweaters, which Oprah Claus also gave away. The takeaway message is, essentially, that Oprah is a hypocrite for, on the one hand, promoting spirituality on her show, but then on the other hand promoting materialism.

He says, "As for me, I don't really know what spirituality means, but I know if you're weeping over a sweater then you don't either." I guess Maher doesn't fear a Franzen-esque blacklisting, now that her show's over.

Comments ( 9 )

this is great! especially love the last line

Sam commented on Dec 23 10 at 7:59 pm

Bill is always fun, but he's just not as smart as he thinks he is.

Oprah seems to be full of shit, as Maher points out. But it's nonsensical to suggest that Bill Maher, who does not know what spirituality is and dismisses the idea of it, gets to define what it means for other people. It's equally full of shit to insult random Americans who are excited to win $1,000,000 (as if that's NOT something to be excited about?) while ignoring that Bill Maher himself is a wealthy man who gets paid gobs of money (by any national standard) to entertain.

And more generally, Maher is stridently anti-religion while making fully faith-based (not to mention debunked) claims about vaccines and Western medicine (summary at https://www.sciencebasedmedicine.org/?p=1251). That glaring inconsistency - you want me to dismiss faith in god out of hand, while taking debunked claims about medicine on faith? - makes it difficult to even listen to the man.

MRI commented on Dec 24 10 at 2:01 pm

MRI's second comment was going to be my first. Maher is nowhere near as smart as he thinks he is. And having seen his detailed responses to that regular "Vanity Fair" feature which celebrates a level of useless consumerism that I can't even fathom, his comments here need to be taken with multiple grains of salt. I'm nowhere near as impressed with Maher as he is with himself.

Vinegar Bend commented on Dec 24 10 at 3:15 pm

Bill Mahe: making the world better one cranky observation at a time. He dislikes people who like God, Oprah, Jon Stewart... He must not have many friends. I imagine him spending Saturday nights on the couch with Christopher Hitchens watching themselves excitedly in a mirror.

M commented on Dec 24 10 at 6:32 pm

Thank God for Bill Maher.
He rightly points out the hypocrisy of Oprah's avowed spirituality ... when her show is about devotion to things.
I happened to see about 15 minutes of that show. At one point she also distributed junk food and said it would make everybody "feel better". No doubt within a couple of previous shows she discussed "healthy choices".
Yes, Maher is often "cranky". Other than benevolent acceptance, in a culture in which every institution is corrupt and laden with hypocrisy, and where many of our basic assumptions appear delusional, don't crankiness, anger and a commitment to "educate" (even if sometimes heavy-handedly) represent a better response than to give up, shut up and be disillusioned ?

justaguy08 commented on Dec 25 10 at 10:02 am

What a smug, mean jerk. This is a guy who had himself accompanied by an extremely attractive woman he didn't know to a red carpet event, out of an apparent need for "arm candy." They parted ways right after the event. Who was he trying to impress / fool in that instance?

As for Oprah and her giveaways -- as another poster said, who wouldn't be excited at getting all that stuff? Also, fyi, Oprah has people who "prep" and key up the audience before each show. These people tell the audience to act excited and to be really uninhibited with their facial expressions during the show -- that way, the audience member will be more likely to have their face on the program (and who doesn't want to appear on TV?). This is standard for all talk shows -- including Maher's, back when he had one. Oprah's audience is already primed to react in exaggerated fashion. Surely Maher knows that?

I liked Maher much better back when he was just a regular stand-up comic. The guy is sharp, and funny as hell. But since he's become so smug and holier-than-though and eager to take cheap shots at easy targets (like Oprah), I can't stand to watch him.

JuliusJ commented on Dec 25 10 at 9:20 pm

Who wouldn't get excited by getting all this stuff? How about me? And 99% of the rest of the Western world ... At least not to the point of acting like a 12 year old when the Beatles landed at JFK. Fucking hell, have some self respect.

Dan commented on Dec 26 10 at 11:47 am

99% of the Western world will react in EXACTLY the fashion you deem as lacking in self-respect when they are in attendance on a TV show and receive such a windfall.

JuliusJ commented on Dec 26 10 at 4:33 pm

Why is an apatheist celebrating Christmas?

jmh commented on Dec 26 10 at 8:49 pm

Watch: Bill Maher mocks Oprah, calls her a hypocrite

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