BILL MAHER DOES HIS JOB (2001)
Before Bill Maher hosted Real Time with Bill Maher on HBO, he hosted eight seasons of the late-night political talk show Politically Incorrect. But PI was doomed the moment Maher expressed his opinion of the United States’ military policies on a September 17, 2001 show.
After George W. Bush called the Al Qaeda terrorists cowards, Maher said: “We [the U.S.] have been the cowards, lobbing cruise missiles from 2,000 miles away. That’s cowardly. Staying in the airplane when it hits the building, say what you want about it, it’s not cowardly.”
People in the media went all Rabble! Rabble! Rabble! and advertisers pulled their support for the show. Despite issuing an apology and explaining that he wasn’t dissing American soldiers, the show got canned in June of that year. ABC executives insisted it was due to poor ratings.
