Top 10 Most Heated Moments on Real Time With Bill Maher

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These Bill Maher moments have to be seen to be believed. Welcome to WatchMojo, and today we’re looking at the most controversial and argumentative conversations on HBO’s hot-button political talk show,”Real Time with Bill Maher”.

Transcript

00:00This is not about more money.

00:01It's not about more money, because the last time Trump had way less money, and he won.

00:05Welcome to WatchMojo, and today we're looking at the most controversial and argumentative

00:09conversations on HBO's hot-button political talk show, Real Time with Bill Maher.

00:13You always have to fight with everybody.

00:15I don't!

00:1710.

00:18Malcolm Nance vs. Ben Shapiro, Season 19

00:20Conservative commentator Ben Shapiro's 2018 debut on Real Time was a combative one-on-one

00:25interview.

00:26A month later, Bill Maher had to manage an even harsher debate on critical race theory

00:30with Shapiro and progressive pundit Malcolm Nance.

00:33Nance maintained that CRT simply teaches the history and legacy of racism in American society.

00:37The Chinese Exclusion Acts of the 1840s, these are things we don't talk about.

00:43Shapiro argued that its reforms in some schools lowered educational standards and promoted

00:46racial tension.

00:47He was baffled when Nance charged him with advocating the whitewash of racial topics

00:51entirely.

00:52A lot of this stuff is taught in schools.

00:53You mean like viruses?

00:54As Nance began mocking Shapiro's show, Maher managed to democratically moderate each party's

00:59perspective and change the topic.

01:01The whole incident nonetheless illustrates CRT as a touchy subject, even in the most

01:05nuanced political debates.

01:06So there are things that are being taught and are going around that I'm not for, that

01:11if that was critical race theory, I wouldn't be for.

01:139.

01:14Ann Coulter on immigration, Season 13

01:16As open as right-wing pundit Ann Coulter is to debate on Real Time, her 2015 appearance

01:21was hardly civil.

01:22She was promoting her provocatively titled book Adios America when she described illegal

01:26immigration with questionable statistics.

01:28This upset Democratic Rep. Luis Gutierrez and MSNBC correspondent Joy Reid, both children

01:34of immigrants.

01:35I would just say one thing, worry about the 50 million Latinos in the United States of

01:39America that are here legally.

01:41They passionately defended the economic value of migrants and the political potential of

01:45their descendants.

01:46Despite Coulter agreeing that Republican policy factored into immigration problems, it devolved

01:51into an ideological shouting match.

01:53No, these are all people who are going to be on welfare soon.

01:55Yes, there are machines that can now pick strawberries, strawberries, tomatoes.

02:00Marr had to assertively break it up, having more experience in keeping his cool with Coulter.

02:04This particularly awkward moment still wasn't enough to close his door to one of Real Time's

02:08most divisive and most recurring guests.

02:10I'm against women working, so I can't.

02:138.

02:14Dennis Prager on lies, Season 17

02:16Dennis Prager is known for inflammatory rhetoric on his radio show.

02:19But even a Real Time panel could rean him in when Marr brought up then-President Trump's

02:23rates of false statements in an Overtime After Show.

02:26He does lie.

02:27You would agree with that.

02:28Prager stunned everyone by agreeing with the study, only to accuse the left wing of making

02:31larger partisan lies.

02:33He shouted over any retort to his argument that the United States is the least racist

02:37country in the world.

02:38This is the least racist, multicultural, multi-ethnic country in the history of the world.

02:43His monologue then veered into the topic of men menstruating.

02:46Prager tried to focus the ensuing transphobic rant into a real debate, but Prager ironically

02:51couldn't fully support his statements.

02:53This absurdity completely tickled Marr, but some saw Prager as a blow to the show's honest

02:57discourse.

02:58Okay, alright, moving on to the next.

03:00Dennis, I remember you in the old show.

03:02You were a little more reasonable.

03:047.

03:05Steve Bannon, Seasons 16 and 18

03:07Bill Marr cordially welcomed Steve Bannon as another conservative to engage in a spirited

03:11debate in 2018.

03:12But the former Breitbart News executive and Trump strategist isn't just another conservative.

03:16The one-on-one interview steadily erupted over the guest's defense of the president

03:20who fired and discredited him.

03:21That's absurd.

03:22You didn't think you'd get fired?

03:23Marr was more frustrated by Bannon's defense of such fringe supporters as Russian apologists

03:28and white supremacists.

03:29I don't think you really think they're the racists and not your people.

03:32This was echoed in a follow-up interview in 2020, when Marr offended Bannon by suggesting

03:36a racial double standard in how he views Obama and Trump's policies.

03:40He even ended the chat by remarking,

03:41I wish we had someone on our side as evil as you.

03:44Clearly, Bannon's question-dodging and defensiveness tested Marr's spirit in both debates.

03:496.

03:50Andrew Cuomo, Seasons 21

03:51Two years after resigning as governor of New York, Andrew Cuomo and his former chief of

03:55staff Melissa DeRosa opened up about his sexual assault allegations on Real Time.

04:00Marr straddled, indulging and questioning the allegations while making light of younger

04:04generations' sensitivity to physical contact.

04:06Cuomo was not particularly amused.

04:08He was visibly unnerved as he deconstructed the overreaches of cancel culture.

04:12This cancel culture, it's a loaded gun, and they can use it against anyone, anytime, even

04:17for their self-interest.

04:18He didn't have much to say on the more solid claims of impropriety that Marr brought up.

04:22It was a wry takedown of two generations' behavior.

04:24It sure wasn't the blowout usually associated with Real Time's more awkward moments.

04:28He could have said, you know what, I went through this.

04:33Let's take a deep breath and actually get the fact.

04:37But Cuomo sifting through Marr's mix of empathetic and gotcha journalism made for a suspenseful

04:41interview.

04:42But defund the police were the three dumbest words ever uttered by the Democratic Party.

04:485.

04:49Jim Jeffries vs. Piers Morgan, Season 15

04:51English conservative commentator Piers Morgan can get confrontational in his views.

04:55Australian comedian Jim Jeffries is an equally unapologetic, if less couth, progressive.

05:01When they met on a Real Time panel in 2017, it was the President of the United States

05:04who set them off.

05:05Morgan praised colleague Donald Trump's policies and argued that his travel ban on Muslims

05:09was exaggerated by critics.

05:11Jeffries immediately and profanely tore into Morgan, accusing him of bias and ignorance

05:15of creeping fascism.

05:16You just like that you won The Apprentice and you have a famous friend.

05:19Between Morgan's condescension and Jeffries' obscene gestures, Marr had to step in.

05:23It was a fraught incident for both notorious provocateurs.

05:26Still, Jeffries got the last word when the audience disputed his rival's claim that his

05:29fervor undermined his message.

05:31Am I losing it?

05:32And you also not losing it.

05:344.

05:35Ejecting protesters, Season 5

05:36The studio audience for Real Time can get as heated as any guest.

05:39Bill Marr is usually good with the crowd, but was pushed too far in 2007.

05:43Almost a month after he bashed conspiracy theories that 9-11 was an inside job, so-called

05:489-11 truthers infiltrated his audience to stage a protest.

05:51Boy, sometimes here at CBS, I wish the sound wasn't working.

05:55As they disrupted a panel with heckles and a banner, a livid Marr ordered security.

05:59His swearing was audible even after he tore off his microphone.

06:02Hey, do we have some f----- security in this building?

06:05Or do I have to come over and kick this guy's ass?

06:10Everyone in the studio applauded as guards and the host himself dragged the hecklers

06:13out through the back.

06:14Marr can handle a debate with the most controversial views, but this incident showed his intolerance

06:18of an unfair fight.

06:19I'll kick your ass out of here, too.

06:223.

06:23Christopher Hitchens vs. the audience, Season 4

06:24Despite public intellectual Christopher Hitchens' friendship with Bill Marr, the war on terror

06:28was a sore spot during his many appearances on Real Time.

06:31It was an especially tenuous panel in 2006, when Hitchens charged Iranian President Mahmoud

06:36Ahmadinejad with pursuing a third world war.

06:39As Marr snickered that George Bush had the same vision, his audience roared.

06:42Who's looking for a war here?

06:44So does George Bush, by the way.

06:45President Bush has said…

06:48Hitchens responded by cursing them out and flashing a middle finger.

06:51He repeated his put-down of the audience later in the debate.

06:53The brief incident became a scandalous touchstone in Real Time's lore.

06:56You know what I think?

06:57This is now the joke that stupid people laugh at.

06:59Hitchens made four more appearances and was poignantly honored by Marr after his passing

07:03in 2011.

07:04Still, his tenure didn't always help his reputation as a debater.

07:07None of whom, none of whom, none of whom was smarter than the president.

07:102.

07:11Ben Affleck and Islamophobia, Season 12

07:13Outspoken anti-theist Bill Marr has been accused of specifically Islamophobic statements.

07:18Philosopher and writer Sam Harris has faced the same accusations.

07:21In 2014, the two united on a Real Time panel to discuss contemporary liberalism's failure

07:26to condemn Islamic dogma.

07:28Author Ben Affleck angrily asserted that an attack on the religion, not just its radical

07:31fringes, is often an attack on the Muslim people.

07:34So hold on, are you the person who understands the officially codified doctrine of Islam?

07:38Harris and Marr boldly stated that radical Islam was not fringe.

07:42Affleck continuously intervened while specialists on his side of the panel anxiously debated.

07:46How about the more than a billion people who aren't fanatical?

07:50The ten-minute-long argument went viral, reviving popular discourse about the Islamic world

07:54and prejudice towards Muslims.

07:56Believe it or not, this feud is widely considered a blemish on Real Time's style of discourse.

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08:191.

08:20Milo Yiannopoulos, Season 15

08:22There's growing concern that Real Time with Bill Marr promotes extreme political demagogues.

08:26Some say it's actually diminished the likes of alt-right commentator Milo Yiannopoulos.

08:30His 2017 solo interview was awkward enough for Marr trying to maintain common ground

08:34on free speech.

08:35For a guy who loves free speech, you've picked a weird boyfriend.

08:39When Yiannopoulos joined the Overtime panel, he unleashed his views in astonishing hate

08:42speech.

08:43This led to a nasty confrontation with comedic commentator Larry Wilmore.

08:46If your argument is that these people are stupid, you didn't hear a word this man said.

08:51The rest of this segment was filled with tension surrounding the provocateur.

08:54Marr ostensibly counted on this.

08:56He justified booking Yiannopoulos by claiming the platform revealed the folly of his extremist

09:00views.

09:01While other controversies at the time mostly drove the former Breitbart editor into obscurity,

09:06some good can come from Real Time getting too real.

09:08Are you American?

09:09No, he's not American.

09:10Oh, f— off.

09:12Which Real Time with Bill Marr standoffs stand out for you?

09:15Join our civil panel in the comments.

09:17Can he have some thoughts?

09:18I don't know, can he?

09:19You tell me.

09:20Did you enjoy this video?

09:21Check out these other clips from WatchMojo and be sure to subscribe and ring the bell

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