Bill Maher Drags ‘The View’ Hosts Following Recent Controversial Comments

Never one to shy away from controversy, comedian Bill Maher recently divulged that he doesn’t believe that the women-led talk showTheView is the best representation of women right now. The long-running ABC program is currently hosted by Whoopi Goldberg, Joy Behar, Sunny Hostin, Ana Navarro, Sara Haines, and Alyssa Farah Griffin. Maher says that while he enjoys some of them as friends, he struggles with the hosts' on-air approach, and has strong reservations about what the show stands for at the moment.

Bill Maher Pushes Back on the Politics of 'The View'

Maher made his remark while talking to Drew Barrymore on his Club Random podcast. Barrymore invited him to visit New York City and appear on her show, which prompted him to reflect on his past talk show experiences. This reflection soon brought The View into the conversation. Maher recalled being a guest on the show in 2024 and said, “I love Whoopi and Joy, those are the two I really know.” He continued, “And I did like a year ago, and I liked everybody, but I don’t know if they’re really, at this moment, the best advertisement for women.” He also added, “They say some things that are just not helpful to, like, say, elections.”

On the podcast, Maher explained that his main problem with The View comes from the panel’s left-leaning viewpoints, which he feels can be overwhelming. This comes from the time when Maher appeared on The View and had a tense exchange with Hostin over the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Another conflict arose from a June episode of The View, when Goldberg made a point that living in the United States as a Black person was comparable to the oppression faced by citizens under the Iranian regime. Maher brought up the comment in a podcast episode with Brian Tyler Cohen, saying:

“That is something that, again, is infuriating about the far left, I would say. Call them whatever they want. Not the woke, the stupid woke, like Whoopi Goldberg, love her, but when she said a couple weeks ago that being Black was the same as being a woman in Iran, it’s like, yeah, in 1920, but not today.”

Maher’s recent comments come at a time when The View's political image is already a hot topic. Over the years, the show has been a frequent target of criticism from the right, with detractors accusing it of leaning too far left and taking too many shots at Donald Trump. That perception has grown strong enough to reportedly concern Disney CEO Bob Iger and ABC News President Almin Karamehmedovic. According to a May report, Karamehmedovic held a meeting with The View’s executive producer Brian Teta and the hosts, and asked them to tone down the political commentary and bring in more varied topics. The women, however, thought the requests were “silly” and made it clear that they were just going to keep doing their thing.

That approach has continued. Just last month, Behar made a joke on The View that Trump was jealous of Barack Obama because Obama was slimmer, more handsome, and happily married. Not long after, White House spokesperson Taylor Rogers responded in a statement and criticized the show’s ratings and even suggested it could be “pulled off-air” if Behar didn’t stop attacking Trump. The warning came shortly after The Late Show with Stephen Colbert was canceled just three days after Stephen Colbert criticized Paramount Global for settling with Trump. Trump has also directly threatened that both Jimmy Fallon’s and Jimmy Kimmel’s shows are next in line to be canceled, and if The View keeps going the way it has, it may not remain on air for very long.

The View

Release Date

August 11, 1997

Writers

Barbara Walters