After another awards show shitshow of anti-Trump-ism at The Grammy’s, Bill Maher has had it with Hollywood’s relentless virtue signaling, and during his latest monologue on his HBO show Real Time with Bill Maher.
And he really let the glitterati have it.
Maher, a leftist liberal himself, began with mock enthusiasm for the endless parade of political posturing that now infects every red-carpet event.
“How about everybody drop the politics for a couple of hours,” he quipped, “and just enjoy these happy, dopey celebrations of show business?”
At last month’s Golden Globes awards, a number of celebrities wore small, stylized pins tied to the Renee Good shooting, including vague slogans like “BE GOOD” and “ICE OUT.”
“Of course, this is for the mother who was murdered by an ICE agent, and it’s really sad. I know people are out marching and all today, and we need to speak up,” actress Wanda Sykes told Variety on the red carpet before the award show. “We need to be out there and shut this rogue government down, because it’s just awful what they’re doing to people.”
Maher, who was also at the event, recalled a reporter asking him why he wasn’t wearing a lapel pin at the Golden Globes last month for the shooting of Renee Good in Minneapolis. At the time, he said, “Well, 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 added, “If I had the chance to think about it, my answer would be exactly the same.”
Maher then skewered the hysteria that followed his comments at the Golden Globes, where critics accused him of “refusing to join Golden Globes activism.”
His reply dripped with sarcasm.
“Golden Globes activism? Oh, you mean the activism of fixing a fucking pin to my suit? I’m sorry, it clashed with my keffiyeh.” He mocked the self-congratulation behind Hollywood’s symbolic gestures. “I hope I didn’t spoil the perfect record of pins and ribbons solving all the world’s problems. You can’t name a problem, from guns to AIDS to bullying to breast cancer, that still exists after people wore a ribbon for it—except all of them.”
The old liberal crusaders took a hit next. “You fucking posers. Three years ago, everybody was all into Ukrainian flags. What happened to that? Another cause tossed into the junk drawer with yesterday’s choke collar?” He called virtue signaling “body ornaments” and delivered one of his trademark zingers: “They’re just crucifixes for liberals. Because every time I see one, I think, ‘Jesus Christ.’”
Maher gave a nod to Ricky Gervais’s now-legendary roast of Hollywood’s award show activism during the 2020 Golden Globe awards, when he said, “Don’t use it as a platform to make a political speech. You’re in no position to lecture the public about anything. You know nothing about the real world.”
Maher, of course, agreed with Gervais, adding, “Celebrities absolutely do have a right to speak out. I’m just saying: Don’t. It’s having the opposite effect of what you want.”
Maher then pointed to the 2024 election cycle, where “every big name in show business came out for Kamala Harris, from Oprah to Clooney to Beyoncé, and she lost every swing state.”
Maher highlighted data showing that Taylor Swift’s political endorsement actually drove voters away. “Come on! Read the room, Democrats. Celebrities aren’t helping, and why would they?”
The problem, he argued, is that stars are the least relatable people in the country at a time when affordability dominates public concern, pointing out that “celebrities don’t strike people as relatable or in touch. What their activism mostly activates is eye rolls.”
Celebrities, I know it’s very important to you that you feel that you’re making a difference, and you are, you’re making independents vote Republican. pic.twitter.com/EozEfoF8OZ
— Bill Maher (@billmaher) January 31, 2026
Hollywood’s fake activism has a short shelf life. Stars slap on pins and flags to look good, then ditch the cause when the spotlight moves on because their activism is more about making them look good than about the cause they’re promoting. Maher nailed it—these celebs treat virtue like cheap jewelry, shiny for one night, trash the next. People are sick of it.
Maher ended the tirade with a final swipe at celebrity activism. “Democrats, it’s great you have all the big celebs, but people see them as an arm of the Democratic Party, which they already suspect for lacking common sense. I know celebrities mean well, and we thank them for having their heart in the right place.”
He added, “Just do you. Use your extraordinary talents for the noble cause of bringing relief from the problems that ribbons and pins can’t fix. I know it’s very important to you that you feel that you’re making a difference… so let me assure you, you are. You’re making independents vote Republican.”
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