Bill Burr joined Bill Maher‘s “Club Random” podcast and declared cancel culture is over, while Maher once again doubled down in disbelief about how Louis C.K. remains on the outs in Hollywood. C.K. was accused of sexual misconduct in 2017 and admitted to masturbating in front of several female comics a few weeks later. While C.K. has continued to tour and direct his own projects, he largely operates outside of the Hollywood studio system.
“I mean, don’t get me started on that,” Maher told Burr when C.K. was brought up. “Isn’t it time everyone just went: ‘OK, It wasn’t a cool thing to do, but it’s been long enough and welcome back.’ Enough! I mean for Christ’s sake, it’s not the end of the world. People have done so much worse things and gotten less. There’s no rhyme or reason to the #MeToo-type punishments.”
Related Stories
“They took $50 million, I think they punished him,” Burr added, referring to C.K. once saying he lost millions and went to “hell and back” due to the fallout from his sexual misconduct scandal.
Popular on Variety
Burr continued on the subject of cancel culture by saying, “It started off with something everyone could agree on, and then quickly it just spun out of control. I remember whenever that cancel culture got to the point of where it was, ‘I don’t like some of the topics in your stand up act,’ right? That’s when it got weird. Cancel culture … it’s over. No one cares anymore.”
“That’s so not true,” Maher responded. “Either one of us could get canceled in the next two minutes.”
During an April interview with Katie Couric, Maher also railed against cancel culture as it pertains to filmmaker Woody Allen. Maher said “I don’t think he committed that crime” in reference to Dylan Farrow’s molestation allegation against Allen, adding: “There was two police investigations that exonerated him.”
“There’s these actors who won’t work with him anymore and some of them made movies with him are saying, ‘I regret doing that.’ What a bunch of pussies!” Maher said. “First of all, it’s a very improbable crime that they’re accusing him of. Plainly, the other party had motivation and [was] vindictive.”
Couric pushed back against Maher’s defense, telling the podcast host that there’s “some pretty damning” evidence out there that supports Dylan Farrow’s molestation claim. Couric said Allen’s desire for his girlfriends to “dress up in little anklets and Mary Janes and baby doll dresses” was one such piece of evidence.
“Do you think he’s the only guy who likes that? Really?” Maher questioned. “Do you think he’s the first guy who wanted his girlfriend to dress in anklets and baby doll [dresses]? That’s what we grew up on, that’s what we find sexy … that doesn’t make you a pervert.”
Watch Burr’s full interview on Maher’s “Club Random” podcast in the video below.
Louis CK put out a statement in response to the allegations the next day, not “a few weeks later.”
I wonder if Bill Maher would feel that way if it was his daughter that was on the receiving end of Louis CK’s “tribute.”