HBO “Real Time” host Bill Maher delivered a rebuke to the idea that Hollywood favors only white people in a monologue on this weekend’s Academy Awards show. “The whole thing is so Hollywood, a room full of know-nothings who call themselves the Academy, making everyone tremble before their judgment, even though their judgment is often terrible, and fails the test of time. Maybe the hashtag should be, Oscar’s so wrong,” Maher said of the awards ceremony. “Eight of the last 10 best director prizes have been won by underrepresented groups, not to mention 60% of the honorary awards. You can’t argue with a straight face, or even a gay face, that the Academy in 2026 still overlooks minority achievement, or that Hollywood is biased in favor of all white people, just Australians. But come on, man, can we live in the present?” Maher asked. “I’m just tired of, no matter how much progress is made, social justice warriors feeling the need to gaslight us as if none of it had happened,” Maher added.

BILL MAHER: And finally, Neural, as this Sunday’s Academy Awards show is the 10th anniversary of the Oscars So White campaign, someone must wear a ribbon that says, we won. Just as a way to remind progressives, hey, you’re progressive. Progress is what you’re selling. Take the win. The Oscars are no longer a long, boring show full of white people. It’s a long, boring show full of all people. In the last decade, best picture has gone to everything, everywhere, all at once. Green Book, Parasite, Coda, Shape of Water, Moonlight, not to mention Nomadland, which might be about Somalia, but no one has seen it, so it’s impossible to know. Acting Oscars have gone to Will Smith, Michelle Yeoh, Zoe Saldana, Divine Joy Randolph, Yoo Young Yoon, I apologize already for some of these names, Regina King, Viola Davis, Kikyu Hwan, Daniel Kalua, and Marisha Ali, twice. Eight of the last 10 best director prizes have been won by underrepresented groups, not to mention 60% of the honorary awards. You can’t argue with a straight face, or even a gay face, that the Academy in 2026 still overlooks minority achievement, or that Hollywood is biased in favor of all white people, just Australians. But come on, man, can we live in the present? No Academy member this year filled out their ballot thinking, well, I didn’t think Chalamet was very good, but I’ll vote for him because he’s white. Hollywood isn’t a secret cabal of racists. It’s a secret cabal of people terrified of looking like racists. And I’m just tired of, no matter how much progress is made, social justice warriors feeling the need to gaslight us as if none of it had happened. A couple of years ago, the Academy established a very complex rule book that said you couldn’t even be considered for best picture unless you met certain criteria, like 30% of the crew or two department heads had to be from underrepresented groups, and a main storyline had to be as well. Well, there goes my idea about a polka band in a ski town. I mean, please don’t get us wrong. We’re not saying you can’t hire who you want or make a movie about whatever you want. OK, that’s exactly what we’re saying. I’m surprised Trump hasn’t sued them over it. But… But seriously, by this standard, you couldn’t make Titanic today and hope to get nominated, or Braveheart or Amadeus. Apollo 13 was about a bunch of white people because white people have done some stuff. But somehow, without a production code, Hidden Figures got made and completed the historical record about how we got to the moon. Sinners this year is up for more Oscars than any movie ever. Sinners is good. It doesn’t need affirmative action. Neither did Parasite or Shape of Water, where she fucks a fish. How much more diverse can you get? A few years ago, Denzel Washington said, we ought to be at a place where diversity shouldn’t even be mentioned like it’s something special. Exactly. Sometimes I’m the equalizer. Sometimes it’s an old English dude. Sometimes it’s Queen Latifah. I mean, the whole thing… The whole thing is so Hollywood, a room full of know-nothings who call themselves the Academy, making everyone tremble before their judgment, even though their judgment is often terrible, and fails the test of time. Maybe the hashtag should be, Oscar’s so wrong. Citizen Kane, It’s a Wonderful Life, 12 Angry Men, Singing in the Rain, Dr. Strangelove, Raging Bull, Pulp Fiction, goes on and on. Not a single best picture among them. Brilliant, brave, groundbreaking, intellectually honest films constantly lose to much more forgettable, trifling, sentimental stuff. Saving Private Ryan lost to Shakespeare in Love. Sunset Boulevard lost to All About Eve. Glory to Driving Miss Daisy. Gangs in New York to Chicago. Munich lost to Crash. Citizen Kane lost to How Green Was My Valley, whatever the fuck that was. Reds lost to Chariots of Fire. Shawshank Redemption lost to Forrest Gump. Some of the most iconic directors of all time. Hitchcock, Kubrick, Tarantino, Kurosawa, Bergman, Fellini, Rob Reiner, have zero wins for best director. The Oscars should give out a new award, the Kanye West, I’ma Let You Finish award. Yeah, just put Kanye in the audience every year to jump up and say, I’ma Let You Finish, but Shawshank is one of the greatest movies of all time. And the acting awards, no better. They’re constantly giving out the Make Up for a Snub Oscar when an actor gets one because the Academy stepped on its dick the first 10 times, the guy should’ve won. Al Pacino in The Godfather, Godfather II, Serpico, Scarface, Dog Day Afternoon, I could go on, Crickets. Then he plays a blind guy who screams, hoo-ha, and welcome to the winner’s circle. It’s like honoring Michael Jordan for when he played baseball. But you know why he won that one, blind guy. I mean, afflictions win. Oscar has been given to so many people with diseases, it should wear a hospital gown. Blind, deaf, ALS, cerebral palsy, Alzheimer’s, amputee, there’s nothing more automatic, well, except if you’re mentally challenged in some way. In Hollywood, never say the R word, but if you play it in a movie, they will give you a trophy. The Academy is also constantly giving it to an actor when they’re really giving it to the character the actor played. Not that these weren’t all fine performances, but if you, as a nominee, are up against someone who played Gandhi, or Lincoln, or Aaron Brockovich, or Norma Rae, or Ray Charles, or Harvey Milk, or the guy in Philadelphia, or the dude at the Dallas Buyers Club, just stay home. It was never gonna happen. Also stay home if you’re up against someone who, you know, we suspect might not be up for an award again, or just up again. Art Carney in Harry and Tonto, beat Jack Nicholson in Chinatown, John Wayne in True Grit, Henry Fonda, Jack Palance. I call this the Grandpa’s Last Christmas Award. And it’s always a lot. The only thing the Academy prizes more than this is if an actor makes the ultimate sacrifice. Gaining weight. Or losing weight. Or, even dare I say it, making themselves unbeautiful. Fake ugly nose, please. Do you even have to ask? Oscars should have another new category this year. Best Glue.

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