What To Know
- Wanda Sykes recounts that Bill Maher confronted her in a parking lot after she made a joke about him at the Golden Globes.
- Maher expressed his displeasure with the joke, claiming it wasn’t funny, while Sykes pointed out that his reaction ironically proved the joke’s point.
Not every comedian is thrilled to find themselves on the receiving end of a punchline.
During a recent appearance on Vulture’s Good One podcast, comedian Wanda Sykes recalled an awkward encounter with Bill Maher following January’s Golden Globes ceremony, where a joke she delivered at his expense apparently struck a nerve.
Her joke was simple: “Bill Maher, you give us so much, but I would love a little less. Just try less.”
According to Sykes, Maher wasted no time in confronting her as he shared words with her in the parking lot of the awards ceremony after the event to complain about the gag, only to end up proving her point in the process.
“Oh, he stopped me out in the parking lot,” recounted Sykes. “We were waiting for our cars. And he was like, ‘What was that about?’ I was like, ‘It’s a joke, Bill.’ He was like, ‘Well, I mean, it wasn’t even a joke.’ I said, ‘Oh, no, I heard laughter. It was clearly a joke.’”
Sykes then did an impression of Maher stumbling over his words, “He’s like, ‘But I don’t…I don’t..but, I mean, I don’t, but still…I mean, it’s not even a joke. It was just like…’ I said, ‘See? You’re doing exactly what we said in the joke! We need less of this! You epitomize the joke. Less of this!”
“He didn’t care for it,” laughed Sykes.
She explained that Maher told her he received criticism from his fans and that he was “getting a lot of texts and people are saying, ‘What was that?’ and ‘It was a stupid joke.’”
“And when he said ‘stupid,’ I said, ‘Okay, now you’re gonna get it,’” revealed Sykes. “I was like, ‘Well, I got a lot of texts telling me how great it was and how they don’t like you, and it was really funny. I guess, you know, that’s the problem. You’re watching Fox News, and I’m over here on MSNBC. See?’ And then he asked me to be on his podcast. I was like, ‘Absolutely not!’”