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HBO Being Pressured to Dump Bill Maher’s Show

Nov 26, 2013  •  Post A Comment

HBO and its corporate owner Time Warner are under pressure to kick Bill Maher off the air, reports Newsday’s a.m. New York.

The Catholic League is putting the heat on after becoming incensed over recent remarks by guest Dan Savage, who is a gay rights activist. He criticized the Catholic Church on the show last week in what the article calls a “profanity-laced rant.”

“The show deserves to be cancelled,” the Catholic League wrote in a letter to Time Warner. It also included “54 anti-Catholic statements made by Bill Maher on TV,” the story says.

Maher has long been opposed to organized religion and has spoken often on the topic. He even devoted an entire movie to the subject — "Religulous," released in 2008. He has also said that he is an agnostic, not an atheist. As a child, Maher has said, he was raised as a Catholic. 

According to TMZ.com, Savage, who was criticizing a bishop who claims children adopted by gay children have a higher suicide rate, said, “He’s confusing children of gay parents with children who are raped by Catholic priests." Savage also described them as “kiddie-f***ing Catholic priests,” TMZ notes.

The TMZ report notes that the Catholic League "has had issues with Maher for years," and adds: "Savage’s remarks incensed the org … so they sent a list of every ‘anti-Catholic’ statement ever mentioned on the show — going as far back as ’98 — asking every bishop to write Time Warner CEO Jeff Bewkes, urging him to give the show the ax."

bill maher.pngBill Maher

14 Comments

  1. So few people watch Maher’s show, that if the priests stopped watching there could be no one.

  2. What a wonderful day to live in. Before you know it the only people we will have making insane comments will be Pat Robertson. Take a look at some of the absolutely ridiculous statements that SOB has made and yet no one is demanding that we take him off the air.
    Enough Said?

  3. Actually, some of the most disgusting comments on television come directly from The Catholic League and William Donahue, which still thinks this is the 1950s and Catholics feel they’re a persecuted minority. Hate to tell you, Bill, that we have free speech in this country, and that includes comedians making fun of institutions — especially institutions that have as spotty an ethical record as does the Catholic Church.
    When Bill Maher is caught abusing kids or formenting violence against non-believers (or believers), I’ll support the move to pull him off the air. Until then, do us all a favor and shut the heck up.

  4. The Catholic League is a radical group. It is not acknowledged by the Vatican nor the Diocese. They are a bunch of nuts that legit Catholics don’t acknowledge. We shouldn’t be giving these jerks the time of day. Thank God there is a new progressive Pope. I’m sure these Catholic Leaguers will try to get rid of him too.

  5. The Catholic League is to the Catholic religion as the taliban are to the Islamic religion. Extremists.

  6. Yes!! Perfect analogy!

  7. However you feel about Bill Maher and his views he never tries to stifle those of others. Grover Norquist, Michael Steele, and a whole host of conservatives are as welcome on his show as are liberals. For that alone he should be commended.

  8. If Warners (HBO) gives in to these radicals, they can kiss most of their audience goodbye.

  9. Who is the Catholic League? How many members? Who supports it? I strongly suspect, after seeing and hearing his ravings over the years, that the Catholic League consists of Bill Donohue and a fax machine. Period.
    No mainstream Catholic organization supports any of the positions he takes on anything ever. Donohue would bring back the Inquisition, if he could. He’s a modern-day Torquemada.

  10. Can’t wait to see how Maher reacts on the next show. Got a feeling a “new rule” is coming…

  11. Good luck with that! This is the jewel in the HBO crown. They’re not dumping him that easily. Besides, this is exactly what they were getting when they hired him in the first place.

  12. Calling this “pressure” is giving this silly, uptight group more validity than they deserve. This media-assisted whining won’t amount to anything except a few choice punchlines from Maher, and some free advertising for his show, which is fine with me. Real Time returns in January everyone — be there and enjoy!

  13. Defending pedophilia is NOT acceptable in this nation….take it elsewhere.

  14. Bill Maher should be dropped and are only idiots with the same idiotic mentality. You people have digressed to a state of shameless worthless human values. Anyone that would think he is any reflection of a comedian and or entertainer has no respect for their fellow human beings. The catholic church is a broken and dysfunctional institution, but the followers of Bill Maher are a pit of human feces and just to stupid to see it.

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