Wanda Sykes’ brutal jab at Bill Maher did not go over well with the comedian, who confronted her directly about the joke at his expense.
During an appearance on Vulture’s Good One podcast, Sykes revealed that Maher made it known to her that he “didn’t care for” the joke, which was evident on his face when she told it on stage at the Golden Globes in January.
“There’s some people p---ed off that a queer Black woman is up here doing the job of two mediocre white guys,” Sykes said as she presented the award for Best Performance in Stand‑Up Comedy on Television. “But first I want to give them some love,” she continued.
“Bill Maher—you give us so much,” she started, before hitting the crowd with the punchline, “But I would love a little less.”
Maher stared on straight-faced, tilting his head slightly as she added, “Just try less.”
“He stopped me” after the show, Sykes said on Thursday. “We were waiting for our cars, and he’s like, ‘What was that about?’ And I was like, ‘It’s a joke, Bill.’ He’s like, ‘Well, I mean, it wasn’t even a joke.’ I said, ‘Oh no, I heard laughter. It was clearly a joke.’”
The comedians failed to reach common ground during the conversation, she explained, as Maher seemed continuously peeved. The Daily Beast has reached out to the Real Time host’s representatives for comment.
Despite leveling with him, Sykes recalled that Maher continued to insist, “It’s not even a joke.’” She told him that he was proving her point. “I said, ‘See, you’re doing exactly what we said in the joke. We need less of this. You’re epitomizing the joke—less of this.’ He didn’t care for it.”
Maher, who was at the Globes for his first-ever nomination, had gripes about the show before it even took place, slamming awards shows for always nominating him and rarely handing him the trophy.
“I’ve been nominated for 33 Emmys, and they would never give it to me,” he said in the pre-taped episode of his Club Random podcast, which was published soon after the Globes aired. Maher implied that he was not left-leaning enough to be awarded by traditional Hollywood awards bodies. “I should be shocked if I win this,” he said.
Maher lost out on the Globe award to Ricky Gervais, who was more harshly skewered by Sykes at the show for his comments about trans people. “Ricky, I love you… For not being here,” Sykes said at the time, adding, “No, I love you, Ricky, because if you win, I get to accept the award on your behalf—and you’re going to thank God and the trans community.” She did just that when his win was announced.
But Maher’s loss was not top of mind when he confronted Sykes afterward, she shared on Thursday, saying that Maher told her, “I’m getting a lot of texts, and people are saying, ‘What was that? And like, it was a stupid joke.’” Sykes said that his using the word “stupid” set her off. “I was like, ‘OK, now you’re gonna get it.’”
“‘I got a lot of texts telling me how great it was and how they don’t like you and it was really funny,” she said she replied. “‘I guess that’s the problem. You’re watching Fox News, and I’m over here on MSNBC.”
Maher added insult to injury, she continued, by asking to capitalize on the viral moment. “He asked me to be on this podcast,” she said, to which she replied, “Absolutely not.”
