Bill Maher on why he doesn't get Emmy nominations like Trevor Noah and John Oliver: 'I tell the truth'
On the second episode of Chris Cuomo’s new primetime show, Cuomo, Bill Maher gave his opinion on why his hit HBO show, Real Time With Bill Maher, hasn’t enjoyed the same award nominations as some of his competitors, specifically The Daily Show With Trevor Noah and Last Week Tonight With John Oliver.
“Looking at just a sheer metric of ratings, OK? You crush John Oliver regularly. Trevor Noah’s, you crush his numbers. You do not get nominated the way they do for Emmys,” Cuomo said, before eventually asking, “Why do you think you don’t get the shine that they do?” “I tell the truth,” Maher said. “I don’t perform for just one-half of the country and say the things that will make them applaud, and there’s nothing wrong with that.”
Maher has been nominated dozens of times but never won. Noah and Oliver, on the other hand, have experienced success at the Emmys, especially Oliver, who has won 17 Emmys overall and has taken home a trophy seven years in a row. But Maher, who has been nominated a total of 41 times without a win, said awards are not what’s important to him.
“They’re very talented people you’re talking about, and do fine shows,” Maher said. “But I just — this has always been my bond with the audience, which is much more important to me than an award, is that I will call it as I see it.”
Real Time With Bill Maher had its string of Emmy nominations come to an end after 2017, when his nomination was met with controversy over a racial slur he used while making a joke. Maher blames his lack of recent nominations on so-called woke culture, which he has repeatedly railed against on his show in recent months.
“In recent years, yes, not even a nomination because, of course, the nominating body out here is very woke, and woke has become a big thing,” Maher said. “And woke I say meaning woke with an eye roll kind of woke. I mean, there is a kind of woke that’s valid, when it started. It became ridiculous.”
Cuomo airs weeknights at 5 p.m. on NewsNation.
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