Bill Maher criticized Hollywood elites at the 77th Primetime Emmy Awards for failing to acknowledge the recent assassination of conservative activist Charlie Kirk. Maher argued that liberal celebrities would never stay silent if a progressive figure had been killed; their silence, he says, reveals stark hypocrisy.
Maher said during Real Time that it would have taken “just a line” to recognize Kirk’s murder—apparently not to praise or politicize it, but simply to say it was wrong. He suggested that the reason no one spoke up at the awards show was because Kirk was on the “wrong team.”
He contrasted Kirk’s omission with the political content that dominated the Emmys: performers made speeches, denounced U.S. immigration policies, voiced support for Palestine, and criticized ICE—all without mentioning Kirk. Host Nate Bargatze reportedly avoided politics altogether, saying he wanted the night to offer escape rather than commentary.
Maher asserted that had the assassination been of a liberal figure, Hollywood would have made it a central theme of the evening. He called the lack of recognition of Kirk’s death not just a snub, but evidence of partisan selectivity in how tragedies are acknowledged.
