‘His Scalp Might Be Good For Free Speech’: Twitter Reacts to Maher Dropping the N-Word

Justin BaragonaJun 3rd, 2017, 11:34 am
 

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Last night, HBO host Bill Maher caused immediate outrage when he tossed out the N-word during his Real Time interview with Sen. Ben Sasse (R-NE). After Sasse quipped that he should have Maher work in the fields, the comedian responded by saying he was a “house nigga.” The audience responded with a mixture of shock and laughter.

Of course, with an older white male using the N-word — even in a mocking and joking manner — it was clear there was going to be a lot of reaction. And much of it was going to be on the side of fury, anger and disgust, with calls for Maher to be fired.

And, following last night’s broadcast, that is what we saw on Twitter.

Journalist Yashar Ali took issue with the fact that some in the audience applauded while Sasse laughed off the comment:

Meanwhile, we got a countertweet to Sasse getting pulled into the fire from Ben Howe:

There were those that called out Maher for his bigotry, some pointing out his previous statements on Muslims to further their point:

Other noted that this is sort of Maher MO — saying outrageous things to get attention:

You had the inevitable comparisons made between Maher and Kathy Griffin:

There were some that wanted it to be known that they always thought Maher was bad:

And then we had this reaction from Slate’s Jamelle Bouie:

As well as this one from Matthew Cherry:

Also, some on the right just want Maher fired not because they were offended, but just to send a message to the left:

[image via screengrab]

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Follow Justin Baragona on Twitter: @justinbaragona

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