In a blistering monologue on his HBO show “Real Time”, the veteran comic unloaded on stars who wore anti-ICE pins at the ceremony, sneering at what he called “Golden Globes activism” and dismissing his colleagues as “f***ing posers”.
The clash is not just about a pin. It is about who gets to define what real activism looks like when millions of eyes are watching.
‘New Rules’ Meets Red Carpet Politics
Maher had already stirred outrage on the Golden Globes red carpet when he was asked about the fatal shooting of Renee Good by Immigration and Customs Enforcement agent Jonathan “Jon” Ross in Minneapolis, Minnesota. While a wave of celebrities responded by donning anti-ICE pins, Maher refused.
During his “New Rules” segment, he repeated his now-infamous words from the carpet. “It was a terrible thing that happened, and it shouldn’t have happened, and if they didn’t act like such thugs, it wouldn’t have had to happen. But I don’t need to wear a pin about it.”
He then mocked the outrage that followed, telling his audience that if he had “had the chance to think about it, my answer would be… exactly the same! Yes, the same: ICE thugs, pins stupid.”
Maher said fellow celebrities and friends sent him “supporting texts” after the uproar, backing up what he said. According to him, the online pile-on and media dissecting every syllable of his comments made little difference.
‘Virtue-Signaling Body Ornaments’
Reading out headlines that painted him as laughing at or mocking activism, Maher zeroed in on the symbol at the center of it all. “You mean the activism of fixing a f***ing pin to my suit? I’m sorry, it clashed with my Keffiyeh,” he cracked, as a photoshopped image of him in a Palestinian scarf flashed on screen.
For Maher, the pin is not a powerful statement. It is a costume piece. He blasted his peers as “f***ing posers” who jump from cause to cause and accessorize every crisis, arguing that none of it brings real solutions closer.
Then he went even harder at the red carpet solidarity. “Get out of here with your virtue-signaling body ornaments. They’re just crucifixes for liberals, because every time I see one, I think ‘Jesus Christ,'” he quipped.
It was a line tailor-made to sting in a town that has turned political symbols into must-have accessories, from ribbons to roses to social justice slogans stitched into couture gowns.
Reigniting the Dave Chappelle Feud
The anti-pin rant was not the only fire Maher lit. He also reopened his long-running feud with Dave Chappelle.
Chappelle had used his last special to go directly at Maher, saying “F*** Bill Maher” and writing off Maher’s commentary as “Smug, cracker-a** commentary”. The jab clearly stuck.
Maher answered by calling Chappelle’s comparison of free speech in America and Saudi Arabia “stupid”. “I was right, what he said was stupid. America has many problems, including free speech issues on both left in right. But we’re real different than Saudi Arabia, and if you don’t believe me, try opening a lesbian art gallery there.”
In other words, the comedian who built his brand on skewering both left and right is not backing away from a fight with Hollywood’s most controversial comics. He is leaning in and naming names on air.
Hollywood, Democrats, and the Voter Backlash
After torching the pins and his fellow comics, Maher pivoted to the Democratic Party itself and its love affair with celebrity.
“Democrats, it’s great you have all the big celebs, but people see them as an arm of the Democratic Party, which they already see as lacking common sense,” he warned.
To Hollywood, he delivered another hard slap. “I know it’s important to you that you’re making a difference. You are, it’s making independents vote Republican.”
In Maher’s telling, those glittering acts of “Golden Globes activism” do not move swing voters toward progressive causes. They send them running in the opposite direction, convinced that the party of stars is out of touch with everyday reality.
The Stars Behind the Pins
None of this landed in a vacuum. At the Golden Globes, multiple stars wore the anti-ICE emblem up the carpet and on stage.
“Wicked” stars Ariana Grande, Mark Ruffalo, and Natasha Lyonne, along with “Hacks” actress Jean Smart, were among the high-profile names who chose the pin. Host Wanda Sykes attached it to the lapel of her glittery silver suit and also used one of her speeches to rib Maher in front of the room.
She roasted him by saying he should “try less”. Cameras caught Maher stone-faced in the audience, not joining in the laughter.
After the show, Sykes told Variety she wore the pin “for the mother who was murdered by an ICE agent” when asked about the accessory. “I know people were out marching and all today. And we need to speak up,” she said.
“We need to be out there and shut this rogue government down,” Sykes added, “because it’s just awful what they’re doing to people.”
Good, 37, was fatally shot by ICE agent Jonathan “Jon” Ross in Minneapolis, Minnesota, in January, a killing that put ICE at the center of the marches Sykes referenced and the emotional debate playing out on that glittering stage.
When Awards Shows Become Battlefields
The split between Maher and his peers is about more than one show’s dress code. It is about whether Hollywood believes its highest calling is to comfort or confront, to entertain or to agitate.
On one side stand stars like Sykes, Ruffalo, and Grande, willing to turn a night of champagne and trophies into a political stage, even if the gesture is as small as a pin. On the other stands Maher, who insists that true action happens far away from designer lapels and viral red carpet clips.
There is no neat resolution in sight. But one thing is clear. In an era when every accessory can become a statement, and every statement can light up the internet, even the tiniest piece of metal on a tuxedo can ignite a Hollywood civil war.
For viewers at home, the next awards show red carpet will not just be about who wore what. It will be a referendum on whether symbolism still matters, or whether, as Bill Maher insists, it is time to take the pins off and find another way to fight.
