Top 10 Most Heated Moments on Real Time With Bill Maher

Season 19
Conservative commentator Ben Shapiro’s 2018 debut on “Real Time” was a combative one-on-one interview. Three years later, Bill Maher had to manage an even harsher debate on critical race theory with Shapiro and progressive pundit Malcolm Nance. Nance maintained that CRT simply teaches the history and legacy of racism in American society. Shapiro argued that its reforms in some schools lowered educational standards and promoted racial tension. He was baffled when Nance charged him with advocating the whitewash of racial topics entirely. As Nance began mocking Shapiro’s show, Maher managed to democratically moderate each party’s perspective and change the topic. The whole incident nonetheless illustrates CRT as a touchy subject even in the most nuanced political debates.

Season 13
As open as right-wing pundit Ann Coulter is to debate on “Real Time”, her 2015 appearance was hardly civil. She was promoting her provocatively titled book “¡Adios, America!” when she decried illegal immigration with questionable statistics. This upset Democratic Rep. Luis Gutiérrez and MSNBC correspondent Joy Reid, both children of immigrants. They passionately defended the economic value of migrants and the political potential of their descendants. Despite Coulter agreeing that Republican policy factored into immigration problems, it devolved into an ideological shouting match. Maher had to assertively break it up, having more experience in keeping his cool with Coulter. This particularly awkward moment still wasn’t enough to close his door to one of “Real Time”’s most divisive and most-recurring guests.

Season 17
Dennis Prager is known for inflammatory rhetoric on his radio show. Not even a “Real Time” panel could rein him in when Maher brought up then-President Trump’s rates of false statements in an “Overtime” aftershow. Prager stunned everyone by agreeing with this study, only to accuse the left-wing of making larger partisan lies. He shouted over any retort to his argument that the United States is the least racist country in the world. His monologue then veered into the topic of men menstruating. Maher tried to focus the ensuing transphobic rant into a real debate, but Prager ironically couldn’t fully support his statements. This absurdity completely tickled Maher, but some saw Prager as a blow to the show’s honest discourse.

Season 16 & 18
Bill Maher cordially welcomed Steve Bannon as another conservative to engage in a spirited debate in 2018. But the former Breitbart News executive and Trump strategist isn't just another conservative. The one-on-one interview steadily erupted over the guest’s defense of the President who fired and discredited him. Maher was more frustrated by Bannon’s defense of such fringe supporters as Russian apologists and White supremacists. This was echoed in a follow-up interview in 2020, when Maher offended Bannon by suggesting a racial double-standard in how he views Obama and Trump's policies. He even ended the chat by remarking, [“I wish we had someone on our side as evil as you.”] Clearly, Bannon’s question-dodging and defensiveness tested Maher’s spirit in both debates.

Season 21
Two years after resigning as Governor of New York, Andrew Cuomo and his former chief of staff Melissa DeRosa opened up about his sexual assault allegations on “Real Time”. Maher straddled indulging and questioning the allegations, while making light of younger generations’ sensitivity to physical contact. Cuomo was not particularly amused. He was visibly unnerved as he deconstructed the overreaches of cancel culture. He didn't have much to say on the more solid claims of impropriety that Maher brought up. It was a rye takedown of two generations’ behavior. It sure wasn’t the blowout usually associated with “Real Time”’s more awkward moments. But Cuomo sifting through Maher’s mix of empathetic and gotcha journalism made for a suspenseful interview.

Season 15
English conservative commentator Piers Morgan can get confrontational in his views. Australian comedian Jim Jefferies is an equally unapologetic, if less couth progressive. When they met on a “Real Time” panel in 2017, it was the President of the United States who set them off. Morgan praised colleague Donald Trump’s policies and argued that his travel ban on Muslims was exaggerated by critics. Jefferies immediately and profanely tore into Morgan, accusing him of bias and ignorance of creeping fascism. Between Morgan’s condescension and Jefferies’s obscene gestures, Maher had to step in. It was a fraught incident for both notorious provocateurs. Still, Jefferies got the last word when the audience disputed his rival’s claim that his fervor undermined his message.

Season 5
The studio audience for “Real Time” can get as heated as any guest. Bill Maher is usually good with the crowd, but was pushed too far in 2007. Almost a month after he bashed conspiracy theories that 9/11 was an inside job, so-called “9/11 Truthers” infiltrated his audience to stage a protest. As they disrupted a panel with heckles and a banner, a livid Maher ordered security. His swearing was audible even after he tore off his microphone. Everyone in the studio applauded as guards and the host himself dragged the hecklers out through the back. Maher can handle a debate with the most controversial views, but this incident showed his intolerance of an unfair fight.

Season 4
Despite public intellectual Christopher Hitchens’s friendship with Bill Maher, the War on Terror was a sore spot during his many appearances on “Real Time”. It was an especially tenuous panel in 2006, when Hitchens charged Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad with pursuing a Third World War. As Maher snickered that George Bush had the same vision, his audience roared. Hitchens responded by cursing them out and flashing a middle finger. He repeated his put-down of the audience later in the debate. The brief incident became a scandalous touchstone in “Real Time”’s lore. Hitchens made four more appearances, and was poignantly honored by Maher after his passing in 2011. Still, his tenure didn’t always help his reputation as a debater.

Season 12
Outspoken antitheist Bill Maher has been accused of specifically Islamophobic sentiments. Philosopher and writer Sam Harris has faced the same accusations. In 2014, the two united on a “Real Time” panel to discuss contemporary liberalism’s failure to condemn Islamic dogma. Actor Ben Affleck angrily asserted that an attack on the religion, not just its radical fringes, is often an attack on the Muslim people. Harris and Maher boldly stated that radical Islam was not fringe. Affleck continuously intervened while specialists on his side of the panel anxiously debated. The ten-minute-long argument went viral, reviving popular discourse about the Islamic world and prejudice toward Muslims. Important or not, this feud is widely considered a blemish on “Real Time”’s style of discourse.

Season 15
There's growing concern that “Real Time with Bill Maher” promotes extreme political demagogues. Some say it's actually diminished the likes of alt-right commentator Milo Yiannopoulos. His 2017 solo interview was awkward enough for Maher trying to maintain common ground on free speech. When Yiannopoulos joined the “Overtime” panel, he unleashed his views in astonishing hate speech. This led to a nasty confrontation with comedic commentator Larry Wilmore. The rest of the segment was filled with tension surrounding the provocateur. Maher ostensibly counted on this. He justified booking Yiannopoulos by claiming the platform revealed the folly of his extremist views. While other controversies at the time mostly drove the former Breitbart editor into obscurity, some good can come from “Real Time” getting too real.

Which “Real Time with Bill Maher” standoffs stand out for you? Join our civil panel in the comments.