Bill Maher will not be going wherever from Real Time.
During a current interview with CNN, comic and political skilled addressed the swirling rumors about his retirement from his long-running HBO present, Real Time with Bill Maher.
At 68, Maher made it clear that his departure will not be occurring, and any determination to go away wouldn’t be voluntary.
“I don’t know the place this began about I’m eliminating Real Time,” Maher mentioned to CNN anchor Jake Tapper on Friday, Jan. 10. “They’re going to have to pull me off of that present.”
Maher, who has been internet hosting Real Time since 2003, is gearing up for the present’s twenty third season, which premieres on Friday, Jan. 17.
His feedback got here in response to hypothesis fueled by his earlier remarks on the December 2024 episode of his Club Random podcast, the place he talked about to visitor Jane Fonda that he “could stop” Real Time.
The suggestion stemmed from his reluctance to concentrate on one other presidential time period underneath Donald Trump.
“I’ll stop as a result of I don’t wish to do one other. I did Trump,” Maher mentioned to Fonda.
“I did all of the Trump stuff earlier than anyone. I referred to as him a con man earlier than anyone. I did. He’s a mafia boss. I used to be the one who mentioned he wasn’t going to concede the election. I’ve performed it.”
When Tapper revisited these feedback, Maher swiftly interjected to make clear his stance.
“No,” he mentioned, denying any plans to stop the HBO present. He defined his earlier remarks as frustration about doubtlessly having to revisit Trump-centric content material.
Maher did, nonetheless, affirm his determination to step again from his stand-up comedy routine after 4 many years.
“I’m stopping doing stand-up, simply because I’m uninterested in touring, simply because I’ve been doing it for 40 years,” he defined, noting the calls for of the craft. “You can’t do it just a little bit. Stand-up is like being a boxer. You should be in coaching.”
Despite his love for stand-up, Maher expressed the necessity for a break, significantly from the grueling journey and workload that comes with balancing stand-up and Real Time.
He emphasised that his exit from stand-up doesn’t equate to leaving his tv profession behind.
Clarifying his podcast feedback additional, Maher reiterated, “What I used to be saying was that I didn’t wish to do one other Trump time period… as a result of I’ve already performed all of the jokes about Donald Trump.” Still, he acknowledged {that a} Trump presidency would inevitably present new materials.
Ultimately, Maher expressed his hope for recent political narratives in America’s future. “I hoped for some new characters,” he concluded, hinting at his want for a shift within the political panorama that would encourage new comedic content material.
