Bill Maher isn’t likely to have another on-air showdown with Ben Affleck.
The host revealed on his Club Random podcast on Monday that he and the Oscar winner still haven’t seen eye to eye following their viral argument about Islamic extremism in 2014. Affleck was a guest on Maher’s HBO show Real Time, during which he took Maher and podcaster Sam Harris to task for their characterization of Islam.
Maher, 70, said during Affleck’s appearance, “Liberals need to stand up for liberal principles. This is what I said on last week’s show. Obviously I got a lot of hate for it. But all I’m saying is that liberal principles like freedom of speech, freedom to practice any religion you want without fear of violence, freedom to leave a religion, equality for women, equality for minorities, including homosexuals—these are liberal principles that liberals applaud for. But then when you say in the Muslim world, this is what’s lacking, then they get upset.”
The heated discussion led to a scathing rebuke from the actor, who told Maher and his guest that their comments lumping extremists in with everyday practitioners of the faith were “racist,” “gross,” and “nuts.” Affleck told Maher at the time, “It’s like saying ‘those shifty Jews.’”
Maher revealed on Monday that he’s asked Affleck to come back on his show “every year” since then, to no avail. The Daily Beast has reached out to a representative for Affleck for comment.
“I mean it’s… I love him,” Maher told his guest, Iranian-American comedian Max Amini. “But we just are gonna disagree on that one. I may, you know, if I talked to him privately or it’s been 12 years, maybe I think there’s a middle ground.”
Maher said the comments at the heart of their debate “got exaggerated and…for some reason it got emotional. And that’s what people love. More people mentioned that episode to me than anything. It wasn’t the best episode we ever had, but it got emotional with a movie star. That’s America.”
In 2022, Maher had Harris on Club Random, where the latter revealed that he and Affleck had privately “buried the hatchet” following the heated exchange. Maher said he hasn’t had that opportunity.
Amini joked that if Maher ever gets Affleck back on the show, he should tout “temporary marriage,” a fixed-term marriage contract in Islamic law, as a cure for his marital woes. Maher was amused.
“That’s perfect, the way that came around to that. That’s hysterical. You’re right. If anybody could use the temporary marriage—just for J.Lo,” Maher said, following Affleck’s brief two-year second marriage to Jennifer Lopez from 2022 to 2024.
