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Howard Stern did some of the most racist, sexist stuff ever on his old radio and tv shows. He did his jive talk imitation, mocked mentally ill people, humiliated women and had a pedophile describe his acts.
He talked with Trump about dating models and the standards they had for them, which was dehumanizing. The lower he went the richer he got.
Three similar situations. Only 1 of these 3 kept his job. And I will preface this by saying that I do find Bill Maher somewhat funny even though he is on the opposite side of the political spectrum.
Bill Maher is not on one of the Big Three Networks. Different market.
None of these 3 should have been fired IMO It's called free speech. If you don't like it turn the channel.
They are (or were) all in business. Business doesn't exist for free speech. Business is in the business of making money. If the talking heads quit making money for the boss, then the decision to fire them or not is up to the boss, not you or me.
They all can say whatever they want in their private lives. No one took any free speech away from them.
Imus and Kelly said things that damaged their business. And got fired. Maher probably has too- I never watch him so I don't know- but if HBO is fine with what he says on his show, then they are, and haven't fired him.
All three were in different situations, so I don't think there are any valid comparisons to be made on any of them.
The real reason why almost everyone is fired is this:
The boss doesn't like the individual.
Anything other than that is only an excuse for firing someone.
1. Bill Maher is on HBO, so pretty much anything goes.
2. He had a show on ABC in the early 2000's that was cancelled indirectly (advertisers were pulling out) because of what he was saying.
Three similar situations. Only 1 of these 3 kept his job. And I will preface this by saying that I do find Bill Maher somewhat funny even though he is on the opposite side of the political spectrum.
What Imus did is NOT what Maher or Kelly have ever done. I thought firing him was overkill, but that was the studio's decision. Different studio than Meghan Kelly or Bill Maher. Still, I was watching at the time he made those comments...they were pretty awful and directed at minors who were not famous, didn't ask for his critique, and were doing nothing more than playing basketball...and winning. I understand how you can go beyond the pale when you're a shock jock like Imus had been for years, and on the spur of the moment you reach for a controversial yet funny comment. Having watched him for a couple of years, I don't think he's racist (any more than most people....of all races). But in reaching for the controversial joke, he waaaay missed the mark and made truly hurtful, horrible comments about some young Af. American girls. It was esp. hurtful, since he used a comment aimed at their hair, which is a sensitive subject for many Af. Americans, esp young girls. He did his best to make up for it, and spoke to them personally. He groveled like no one has groveled before, seemed truly sorry, etc. But the studio fired him, anyway. I suppose the fallout was too great...the viewership was killed.
I also understand what Meghan Kelly was trying to say. But you just can't say such things these days without people going ballistic. Predicatably, she was terminated, and walked away with something like a $69 million payoff from the studio. Not bad. I think she wasn't well liked there, anyway, and that her show wasn't top rated. So there was that.
Anyone who's watched Maher during his career knows that he was fired for anti-American comments, when he had a show called Politically Incorrect. He argued that the perpetrators of the September 11 terrorist attacks, although terrible people, were not cowards (as some people were calling them). What was cowardly, he argued, was America's relationship with the rest of the world. Ouch. Controversy & outcry ensued. Advertisers pulled their ads. So the show was cancelled. (He went on air and apologized and said he should have expressed views differently...that it came out wrong.)
I give comedians and political satirists more leeway. Their job is to be funny, which means pushing to the edge, often off the cuff. It's inevitable they'll overshoot the mark or go in the wrong direction. They're not in a serious political discussion trying to persuade or have high-level discourse. They're trying to be funny and hopefully insightful. Maher, being political, has shows where he does express his views without necessarily going for a joke. I don't think he's said anything that controversial ever since...and he admits those prior statements were a mistake by him and he shouldn't have said that and didn't mean that.
Those shows are in business to make money. Once big advertisers start pulling their ads, the controversial person who caused it is on the chopping block.
Jewish | White: It is only possible to choose one or the other.
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