Comedian Bill Maher has criticized diversity, equity, and inclusion initiatives and blamed the practices for impeding on the creative processes of television writers.
Maher, 69, lamented the state of modern sitcoms during Monday’s episode of his Club Random podcast, with actor Tim Allen appearing as a guest on the show.
Allen, 72, opened the door to the DEI conversation when he revealed that he was shocked when TV executives approached him about starring in his third sitcom, Shifting Gears, “because all the people that I know that I would make it with are either dead or not the right gender.”
“They’re all light-skinned European older men and that doesn’t fit the DEI thing that everybody wanted,” the Toy Story voice actor and Home Improvement star continued. Explaining that Hollywood wants a “potpourri” of representation, Allen lamented, “If you’re going to do a sitcom, it’s just got to be funny. You got to have some drama.”
Maher, best known for his political satire and controversial takes that draw ire from Democrats and Republicans alike, agreed and said diversity is a “great virtue,” but noted that it’s not the only one.
“Not everything in America has to look like Angelina Jolie's Christmas card, you know, sometimes, and it's always okay in reverse,” he said, referencing Jolie being the adoptive mother of children from Cambodia, Ethiopia, and Vietnam, as well as of her biological children with Brad Pitt.
“You know, it's like if there's something where it's just an all-Black cast. Good, I’m all for it. I’m not complaining about it,” Maher said.
“I love people of color, and I’m so glad that things are better than they used to be for people of color, but you know, it shouldn’t intrude on the creative process to the degree it has in this town,” Maher continued. “It has intruded on the creative process. And by the way, lots of people of color agree with that because they want the creative process to be pure, too.”
The Independent has reached out to a representative for Jolie for comment.
The outspoken podcast host went on to slam CBS’s 2020 goal to have a minimum of 40 percent of writers’ rooms made up of Black, Indigenous, and people of color, which was eliminated last year due to the network’s new boss Bari Weiss being a vocal critic of DEI.
DEI initiatives ended within the federal government when Trump took office in 2025, with major companies following his lead.
Maher’s latest comments come months after he shocked his left-leaning viewers by changing his tune on Trump and suddenly praising the president.
After the shooting death of Charlie Kirk during his public speaking event in September, Maher told viewers that debates over which political party was to blame were pointless because both sides have toxic rhetoric.
“It’s a very ugly week in America with violence of all kinds: political violence, regular violence, a lot of people talking about a civil war,” he said at the time. “I tell you, so far, the civil war is not very civil.”
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