Bill Maher decides to delay the return of Real Time after all
Real Time With Bill Maher won't cross the Writers Guild of America picket line after all
Aux News Bill Maher
Well, Real Time won’t be crossing the picket line after all. Bill Maher has apparently jumped on the bandwagon with the other talk shows that have walked back their premiere dates amid the writers strike. Despite being overtly dismissive of some of the Writers Guild of America’s aims, Maher has graciously decided to let them work things out, thus narrowly avoiding being labeled a “scab.”
“My decision to return to work was made when it seemed nothing was happening and there was no end in sight to this strike,” Maher wrote on Twitter/X of the decision. “Now that both sides have agreed to go back to the negotiating table I’m going to delay the return of Real Time, for now, and hope they can finally get this done.”
Maher’s statement came as the Writers Guild of America leadership confirmed that the guild would return to the negotiating table with the AMPTP (Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers). “The WGA and AMPTP now have a confirmed schedule to bargain this week, starting on Wednesday,” the union said in the message to guild members on Monday (via Variety). “You might not hear from us in the coming days while we are negotiating, but know that our focus is getting a fair deal for writers as soon as possible. We’ll reach out again when there is something of significance to report.”
The WGA is fighting for several improvements to their contract, though in Maher’s opinion, they’re “asking for a lot of things that are, like, kooky.” On his podcast, Maher said (among other things), “I feel for my writers. I love my writers. I’m one of my writers. But there’s a big other side to it,” Maher also said. “And a lot of people are being hurt besides them—a lot of people who don’t make as much money as them in this bipartisan world we have where you’re just in one camp or the other.”
Wanting to “bring people back to work” was the comic’s stated reason for moving forward with Real Time without his WGA employees. “The writers have important issues that I sympathize with, and hope they are addressed to their satisfaction, but they are not the only people with issues, problems, and concerns. Despite some assistance from me, much of the staff is struggling mightily,” he wrote in a previous statement. “We all were hopeful this would come to an end after Labor Day, but that day has come and gone, and there still seems to be nothing happening. I love my writers, I am one of them, but I’m not prepared to lose an entire year and see so many below-the-line people suffer so much.”
Hopefully, this round of negotiations will prove fruitful for the WGA so that everyone can get back to work, and so that Bill Maher can go back to expressing his contrarian opinions about other subjects.
50 Comments
It’s nice of Bill to not mention a single “important issue” the writers have that he agrees with. He also doesn’t mention which of their demands are “kooky.” What a pal.
I’m still very much in the camp of not beating up on people who end up doing the right thing after they’ve embarrassingly done the wrong thing, so good job Bill. But also, Bill Maher was an asshole before this, so fuck you Bill.
I’m still very much in the camp of not beating up on people who end up doing the right thing after they’ve embarrassingly done the wrong thing
Not a bad take, except that in Maher’s case that’s not what he did… He only tracked back to try to cover his ass after acting like a jerk scab.
For that, praxis is praxis. The fact that he’s backtracking is good, and if the only reason is that he’s a cowardly worm, that’s good enough for me. I hope he’s similarly cowed into renouncing more of his shit opinions thinking that it will help him save face. It might never make me think he’s a decent person, but it might lessen the harm he does in the world, and I think that’s an agreeable solution.
That’s why Maher’s a moron. Why try to impress dumbfucks who are never satisfied?
“Now that both sides have agreed to go back to the
negotiating table I’m going to delay the return of Real Time, for now,
and hope they can finally get this done.”
Sounds like if the new negotiations fail and the strike continues, then Maher’s going to bring his show back anyway.
I’d keep your beating stick of choice on standby.
I mean…yeah…but also even his reasoning is smarmy. “Despite some assistance from me….” Please, he could afford to pay them for a year. How much was this “some assistance”? And the way he talks about the stall in negotiations as if it’s “both sides’” fault. He could be using his position to put pressure on the studios rather than blaming the strike for his employees’ suffering. He can’t even to the right thing without doing it the wrong way.
Is he doing the right thing, or is he just unable to book any guests?
Possibly, though I think Maher has a much broader slate of potential guests who would be willing to scab than Barrymore does. The entire Right wing grift-o-sphere could be on night after night
And the cherry on top, Maher lacks the courage of his convictions. Get out and stay out, hack.
There is power in a union.
Ramsey tellin dat pink eye bitch to get back in da kitchen where she belongs. He holdin two slices coz she a dumbfuck sandwich
Die bitch
Speakin of dumbfuck sandwich, Marge Sadness is in da house and hungry for ma mayo
Die bitch die
“this bipartisan world we have where you’re just in one camp or the other.”Far be it from me to lecture the guy with the politics show, but I was under the impression that “bipartisan” meant the opposite of being in one camp or the other, as in “there is enthusiastic and bipartisan agreement that Bill Maher is a smarmy asshole.”
He’s too stupid to understand he means “binary world we have where you’re just in one camp or the other.” He, of course, can see a THIRD option which weirdly totally coincides with doing the bidding of the studios. He’s just unhappy it got a lot of pushback.
He saw Drew Barrymores fate and even a dumbass like him didn’t want the pressure. What a prick.
We’re safe!But for how long!?
UNDERRATED.
I’ve never cared for Bill Maher. His comments about the WGA despite being a writer himself display some real selfishness.Having said that, it’s absolutely true that there are people below-the-line that are struggling. I wonder if productions are going to struggle to find skilled labor whenever they do finally resume, because ordinary people can’t just stay unemployed forever. They move on and get other, more stable jobs. I know several people that dropped out of the industry during the pandemic. This is all in addition to the constant churn of people leaving because of burnout.Fuck the studios.
Thank you for blaming the studios. I see some grumblings from IATSE members blaming the “greedy” writers and actors. We’re in this together and SAG/WGA will be supporting them on the line when their contract is up.
I’ve seen that too. Did they forget IATSE almost went on strike two years ago? And if this is how the studios treat the faces of their content and the people that write the scripts, what makes them think the studios will just give them whatever they want when negotiations for their union rolls around again?There is a lot of people hurting, and anyone sensible can see that it’s the studios being stupid and greedy, not the unions.
IATSE should be blaming their union leaders for the weak deal they accepted a few years back (much like the writers strikes of the past, it was behind the curve and making up for past slights as opposed to preparing for future ones). In reality, it is the studios trying to maximize profits for their shareholders at the expense of their labor (see also: every industry in America).
That last contract was a mixed bag to be sure. It was the first time in my nearly 15 years in the union that I’d seen literally ANY gains in a contract other than token raises. So in that respect it was a victory.
I still think we should have gone on strike and should have pushed for more, because the leadership did fail to take note of how things changed in the year between their survey of membership wants and the mood when negotiations actually started, but I can’t be unhappy with a contract that at least started the process of pushing back on the worst producer excesses.
People’s complaints aren’t always fair when they’re scared. After four months of being out of work- and at this point it’s looking unlikely much will start up before the new year- IATSE members are getting very nervous about mortgages and health care, among other things. They don’t get anything out of these strikes except some theoretical leverage when their time comes- but that only matters if they’re in a place to go on strike themselves, and God only knows if the stomach for that will be there.
I agree. But as to whether they have the stomach for it, like I said, two years ago they were prepared to go on strike – or at least, the people I spoke to were. The higher-ups on the show I was working on at the time were taking the possibility very seriously. But I guess it always seems worth it when it’s your own contract on the line, and less so when it’s someone else’s.(To be clear, I supported IATSE then, as I do the WGA and SAG now)
The flip side, obviously is that the producers might not have the stomach for much work stoppage either, and be more willing to negotiate with IATSE this time around than they have been with the writers and actors… but I’m not holding my breath on that.
I think that grumbling is inevitable. You can’t have people out of work for months with absolutely no gain for themselves and not expect to hear some complaints. Especially now that mortgages and health care are starting to be at risk.
And not to be too combative about it, but the idea of SAG/WGA supporting IATSE when the time comes is very much hypothetical. For one thing, IATSE has never gone on strike, so it’s never been tested. And frankly, neither of those guilds have a great track record of supporting other unions.Don’t get me wrong, this is all very much the studios fault, and I think this is a very different time, maybe the strongest, most united I’ve ever seen labor both in the film industry and beyond. I hope you’re right and it stays that way come IATSE negotiations next year.But I think the fact that by and large IATSE is still supporting the WGA and SAG is a minor miracle, given that they gain literally nothing from these strikes.
Maher’s rich. If he were truly worried about the people on his show, he could just pay them. It’s been done before.
EXACTLY. With his “some assistance from me,” bullshit. If you gave a shit about them they wouldn’t be struggling, Bill.
should have went with: Bill Maher does the right thingIt is a striking headline, One you don’t get to print often!
Glad he’s not coming back for several reasons, but that’s a pretty motivated/*bullshit* explanation. The announced return of talk shows had something to do with the stalling of talks, yes, but that’s because it was a proxy battle. It had to be fought before talks could resume, and that’s because of the AMPTP’s chosen strategy. One side was going to reenter talks in a stronger position than before, and the AMPTP thought it would be them after breaking solidarity and generating contentious press.
I’m glad he’s not scabbing, but his reasoning reads pretty badly. It sounds like, “I was totally going to scab, but now it looks like I can get away without scabbing and look a little better, so I’ll do that instead.”
And the rules only apply if Bill is satisfied with the progress of the process, get it?
Glad he did the right thing, but god damn he looks like a thumb.
All I see is
Oh no Billy! The woketards can never have enough shit to be offended by
Die bitch
Speakin of dumbfuck woketards, Smell ma poot slut
Strike breaking is a new no-no, Bill.
Honestly, I’m fine with the strike continuing in perpetuity if it helps keep Bill Maher off the air.
He must have realized that, like every other reactionary culture war dipshit, he couldn’t carry an entire show relying on that one joke.
It is hard to play the “I am a traditional Liberal” and be a scab at the same time.
I WAS watching his show for years and years. This last few seasons I found myself fast forwarding through his anti lockdown, anti teacher, anti mask, anti medical science never ending rants, and fluffing interviews with “people” like elon and now I can clean break from his show and be done.
About 5 years or so too late I’d say. I left that clown in the mid 20-teens and I held on too long myself. His show was just full of “ism” masquerading as a show that was trying to be intelligent. It was Joe Rogan-esque with a less fuck boy audience portraying “balancing both sides” bullshit which was never both sides.
As time went on he’s become Dennis Miller V.2 and I knew it was time for myself to mute his BS.
Bummer, that means I have to wait longer to see his smug, “I’m the smartest guy in the room.” expression when mugging for the camera.
Woketards prefer to just look in the mirror for that kinda action
Die bitch
Smell ma poot slut