Bill Maher Says He And Woody Allen Have ‘Insight’ On Black Experience Because Of DUI And Sex Abuse Probe

Tommy ChristopherSep 2nd, 2025, 12:23 pm

Comic, pundit, and podcast host Bill Maher said that he and guest Woody Allen have gained “insight” into the Black experience with the criminal justice system because of Maher’s DUI conviction and Allen’s child sex abuse probe.

Allen was criminally investigated over allegations that he sexually assaulted his daughter, Dylan Farrow, but was never charged. Maher was arrested for driving under the influence in 1992, and has shared that experience in interviews and on his show.

The filmmaker was a guest on this week’s edition of Maher’s Club Random Podcast, during which Maher suggested his own DUI and Allen’s experience were analogous to the injustices Black Americans have faced within the criminal justice system. Allen did not agree:

BILL MAHER: I mean, I remember once I got a DUI, which is not nearly what you went through.

But you know, they make it go through a 14-week program and go to AA meetings, and like, you are entrapped into the criminal justice system, again at a very low level.

But even at that level, I was like, whoa, this is awful. I mean first of all, there’s a lot of people who love it that they just have complete power over you and whatever you do because now you’re in the system.

The system. It gives you a great insight into what it must be like, you know–.

WOODY ALLEN: Well not–.

BILL MAHER: –for Black Americans who are at the shitty end of the justice system for their whole existence.

WOODY ALLEN: Yes, but I was lucky because–

BILL MAHER: No, I am saying it, but it gives you an insight. When you see the justice system up close, it’s sobering.

WOODY ALLEN: Right, but fortunately, I was never really in the system because I was not charged with–

BILL MAHER: Of course you were. Of course you were, there were two police investigations.

WOODY ALLEN: Yes, but I was I was never charged with anything. I was found–.

BILL MAHER: I know but that would make me–.

WOODY ALLEN: –you know You know, nothing ever happened. Both investigations So so I never really suffered as much as I might think.

But I will say it was fortunate, it came at a fortunate time in my life, because I didn’t have to worry about money and I didn’t have to worry about making films. I made them and I–

BILL MAHER: Well you were much younger when those two police investigations were going on. I would be shitting in my pants if the police were investigating me.