Bill Maher has opened up about a falling out with late-night host Jimmy Kimmel, admitting that a disagreement that jeopardized their friendship late last year has led him to believe the two will never speak again.
Maher was speaking with his guest, comic Adam Carolla, on his Club Random podcast when the beef with Kimmel came up. Maher has been hosting the loose and spirited one-on-one interview show for Tubi, in addition to his panel series for HBO, Real Time with Bill Maher.
“Jimmy Kimmel, you know, he’s very mad at me and I know you’re close to him,” Maher told Carolla, who co-hosted The Man Show on Comedy Central with the late-night host from 1999 to 2004. “I hope you tell him that I’m sorry that it got bent out of shape. I don’t think I did anything wrong. We can have disagreements. I mean, you and I don’t agree on everything — look at this clash now — and yet we’re cool.”
While Maher never stated the details about his and Kimmel’s disagreement or what was “bent out of shape,” several outlets have reported that the friendship hit the skids when Maher commented on Kimmel’s wife, Molly McNearney, who is the co-head writer and the executive producer of Jimmy Kimmel Live! In November, McNearney revealed on the We Can Do Hard Things podcast that she had lost relationships with some family members who supported and voted for President Trump in last year’s election.
“It hurts me so much because of the personal relationship I now have where my husband is out there fighting this man,” McNearney said on the Nov. 6 episode, referencing the ongoing war of words between Kimmel and Trump. Over the summer, Disney, the parent company of ABC, indefinitely suspended Jimmy Kimmel Live!. The show quickly returned after a major backlash ensued.
“To me, them voting for Trump is them not voting for my husband and me and our family,” she said. “And I, unfortunately, have kind of lost relationships with people in my family because of it.”
In December, Maher decided to criticize McNearney on an episode of Real Time.
“She says she’s lost relationships with relatives because she wrote them an email before the election with 10 reasons why they shouldn’t vote for Trump, and some still didn’t obey — so, you know, ultimatums. Ten reasons? I can think of 100. But I would never present it to someone as an ultimatum,” Maher told the HBO audience. “Ultimatums don’t make people rethink their politics. They make them rethink you.”
Following this moment on Real Time, Maher mentioned on an episode of Club Random that Kimmel and McNearney were angry with him over the comment. He offered an apology at the time that may have been more of a justification of his words than an expression of contrition.
“I was as kid-gloved as I could. And I see they’re mad at me. Uh, I’m sorry. I mean, I was being, again, as respectful as I could, but I don’t agree with that point of view. And since she went public with it, it wasn’t out of school for me to go public with it. I love Jimmy. I’ve always have. I don’t know him that well, but he’s a great guy… I hope we’re friends forever, but I don’t know. You know, the liberals and the woke — that’s a schism. It just is.”
Speaking further with Carolla about the matter on his show this week, Maher pointed out that his brand is even-handed in its approach to political jokes — contrasting Kimmel’s left-leaning humor.
“My tribe is supposed to be the left, but these are the people who just can’t talk to you unless you’re exactly there, whereas the Republicans, they always … come to my show,” Maher said. “I don’t just buy into the left-wing nonsense, and I never stop making fun of the right-wing nonsense at all.
“I think he’s a great guy,” Maher added. “And it bugs me that — because of what the latest thing was — we may never talk again.”
The Hollywood Reporter has reached out to representatives for Kimmel and McNearney for comment but did not hear back from them immediately.
