Bill Maher slams cancel culture after Whoopi Goldberg, Jeff Zucker scandals
The ABC star was suspended for two weeks while the CNN boss was forced to resign
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}"Real Time" host Bill Maher on Friday night took aim at cancel culture as media controversies engulfed "The View" co-host Whoopi Goldberg and CNN president Jeff Zucker.
Goldberg was placed on a two-week suspension by ABC News after the liberal star claimed the Holocaust "is not about race." She initially doubled down on her remarks during an appearance on "The Late Show" with Stephen Colbert but issued an apology after facing intense backlash for Jewish groups, stating "I stand corrected."
Maher, who has often clashed with Goldberg in the past, kicked off the show's panel discussion by sharing that people assumed he was "enjoying the karma."
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}WHOOPI GOLDBERG SUSPENDED FROM 'THE VIEW' FOLLOWING HOLOCAUST REMARKS
‘No f----- thing as karma’
"First of all… there is no f---ing thing as karma, OK? Get over that," Maher said. "Whoopi attacks me on a regular basis, she says stupid s--- on a regular basis, it just so happened to coincide."
"Whoopi Goldberg, who, by the way, I hope is still a friend -- we can disagree with each other -- should not be canceled or put off her show, as much as I totally disagree with her crazy statement -- free speech! She should be there! She shouldn't get a timeout!" Maher exclaimed.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Whoopi Goldberg speaks in New York City, June 26, 2019. ( Reuters)
The HBO star slammed "The View" for allowing only "the view" instead of a diversity of thought.
"That's the problem in America. There is just one view, one true opinion. And everyone else can go sit in the corner," Maher said. "Can we just understand that part of our sorry racial history in this country is that the point of view from a Black person is often going to be very different and sometimes shocking to a White person?"
"That's the problem in America. There is just one view, one true opinion. And everyone else can go sit in the corner."
Maher then shared Goldberg's defense of ex-NFL player Michael Vick, who pled guilty in 2008 for his involvement in a dog-fighting ring. Maher referred to Goldberg saying of Vick: "He's from the South. This is part of his cultural upbringing. For a lot of people, dogs are sport. Instead of just saying he's a beast and he's a monster, this is a kid who comes from a culture where this is not a question."
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}‘Two different worlds’
"OK? You see the point here?" Maher said. "And again, I don't agree with her on Michael Vick. But we grew up in two different worlds, which the White people impose upon the Black people. They are going to sometimes have a very different opinion. And the answer is not to make them sit in a corner for two weeks. That is insulting, so insulting, to make a 65-year-old -- I mean, the person at ABC News said, 'I've asked her to take time to reflect and learn about the impact of her comments.'
"'Reflect!'" Maher continued. "How insulting for someone of her age, who is a sophisticated person. ‘And the impact of our company’ - There is no impact! There aren't neo-Nazis waiting for the green light from the lady on ‘The View’ to go out and do a new Kristallnacht."
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}"There aren't neo-Nazis waiting for the green light from the lady on ‘The View’ to go out and do a new Kristallnacht."
WARNING: GRAPHIC LANGUAGE
Maher pivoted to Zucker, his former corporate colleague at TimeWarner, the parent company of both HBO and CNN.
‘He had to resign over that?'
Jeff Zucker resigned Wednesday after admitting he failed to disclose his consensual relationship with colleague Allison Gollust, an executive vice president and CNN's chief marketing officer.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}"I don't think I've ever met Jeff Zucker. If I did, I'm sorry, Jeff, I forgot. I don't have a dog in this fight. I don't want to be on CNN, he can't do anything for me, I can't do anything for him, but Jeff Zucker, powerful guy, head of CNN resigned, because he's 56 and not married … was having a relationship with a 49-year-old. I think that's age-appropriate, so we got that check for him -- also executive at the company, and he had to resign over that?" Maher asked. "I don't understand this, why a 56-year-old and a 49-year-old people can't have a consensual relationship. I mean, they had been friends for 20 years!"
While one of his panelists addressed how Zucker oversaw CNN's glowing coverage of now-disgraced former New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo while turning a blind eye on his scandals, Maher kept the focus on Zucker's "discretion."
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}"In the old days, this was called discretion," Maher said. "I'm not gonna tell everybody who I'm f---ing.' Now, I didn't tell everybody who I've been f---ing and I'm the bad guy?!?"
"In the old days, this was called discretion. 'I'm not gonna tell everybody who I'm f---ing.' Now, I didn't tell everybody who I've been f---ing and I'm the bad guy?!?"
Jeff Zucker and Allison Gollust have been an item for years, according to a media industry veteran who worked with them roughly a decade ago. (Getty Images)
Damning revelations have been reported since Zucker's resignation, including how his relationship with Gollust dates to 1996 when she was a "trainee" and he was the executive producer of NBC's "Today" show and how the two of them fed "talking points" to Gollust's old boss, Andrew Cuomo, to combat attacks from then-President Trump in the early months of the COVID pandemic.
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{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}The CNN lovebirds were also reportedly "instrumental" in the televised Cuomo Brothers interviews in 2020 and Gollust personally appealed to the governor to continue his CNN appearances when his office began resisting.