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Free Speech and the return of Bill Maher

© John Rutherford

Political talk show host and comedian Bill Maher has rebounded from the cancellation of his Politically Incorrect on ABC with another currents events forum on HBO called “Real Time with Bill Maher.” The new show will debut on the cable network February 21st.

At a recent meeting of the Television Critics Association, the 46-year-old Maher said of his new show, he plans “to keep everybody honest; to note that what public figures say, they then have to do; and when they don’t, to point out that discrepancy and to mock it.”

Bill Maher’s Politically Incorrect was pulled off the air by ABC following the loss of advertising as a repercussion to statements made by Maher following the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks on the United States.

The late night time slot that competed with Leno and Letterman will be filled by a new entertainment show starting January 26th, hosted by Comedy Central’s Jimmy Kimmel. Ironically, Politically Incorrect originated on Comedy Central before moving to ABC in 1996.

The trouble began almost immediately after the attacks when Maher suggested prior U.S. military action was cowardly. “We have been the cowards, lobbing cruise missiles from 2,000 miles away,” stated Maher on the September 17, 2001 show. “That’s cowardly. Staying in the airplane when it hits the building, say what you want about it, it’s not cowardly.”

Maher blamed the network for canceling the show because of the remarks made in protest of the use of the word “coward” in describing the hijackers, Maher stressed the attackers were evil but not cowards. Webster’s defines coward as one who lacks courage in the face of danger or pain. By definition, Maher was correct.

Major advertisers like FedEx pulled their ads and the local Washington, D.C. station even stopped airing the show as Maher came under increased criticism. Maher later stated he supported the military and that his comments were directed at politicians and not the armed forces, but it was not enough to save the show.

ABC Chairman Lloyd Braun said the cancellation of Politically Incorrect was not due to Maher’s comments but was actually brought about by lower ratings and a desire to go with more traditional entertainment in its late night programming. In actuality, the show remained popular, held its core audience and as a result of the controversy, many new viewers tuned in to give the show a try.

Free speech was vastly more prevalent on Politically Incorrect than on any other talk show as a result of Maher’s open format. The loss of the show was a loss for free speech in that the real power brokers are the large corporate advertisers. Bill Maher is free to say what he wants and corporate America is free to advertise where they chose, but using their advertising power to silence Maher has diminished the First Amendment for all of us.

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