Bill Maher has no plans to quit his show Real Time.
During an interview with CNN on Friday, Jan. 10, the comedian and political pundit, 68, addressed the rumors about his retirement and said that, if anything, he will have to be forced out.
“I don’t know where this started about I’m getting rid of Real Time,” he told anchor Jake Tapper. “They’re going to have to drag me off of that show.”
Maher has been hosting Real Time since 2003, and the show is set to return for its 23rd season on Friday, Jan. 17 on HBO.
The former Politically Incorrect host’s comments come after he previously suggested on a December 2024 episode of his Club Random podcast that he “may quit” Real Time.
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During the Dec. 1 episode, Maher told guest Jane Fonda that he was not keen about the idea of having to create material centered around another presidential term with Donald Trump in the White House.
“I may quit because I don’t want to do another. I did Trump,” Maher told Fonda, 87. “I did all the Trump stuff before anybody. I called him a con man before anybody. I did. He’s a mafia boss. I was the one who said he wasn’t going to concede the election. I’ve done it.”
During Friday’s CNN interview, Tapper, 55, asked Maher about the Club Random conversation with Fonda, saying, “But there’s talk promulgated by you about maybe you quitting the HBO show.”
“No,” Maher quickly interjected.
“Well, you said something to Jane Fonda about — about thinking about that,” continued Tapper, asking, “Where are you in your career? You still got a lot of good stand-up, a lot of good jokes in you, right? Like what — tell us what — what’s next?”
Maher then clarified that the only thing he is retiring is his exhausting stand-up routine.
“OK. I am stopping doing stand-up, just because I’m tired of touring, just because I’ve been doing it for 40 years,” he told Tapper, while adding, “I love nothing more than being onstage somewhere telling jokes to strangers. It’s been my entire life. It’s been the most consistent thing in my life.”
Maher continued: “But for those people who say to me, ‘Why don’t you just do it a little bit?’ You can’t do it a little bit. Stand-up is like being a boxer. You have to be in training. You can’t just walk up there and do it.”
Todd Owyoung/NBC via Getty
Bill Maher
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“I’ve been in training for 40 years. I need a break,” Maher added. “And I’m tired of the travel. I’m tired of dragging my ass out of bed on Saturday morning to go to someplace after I worked so hard on Real Time all week.”
Maher then circled back to the comments he made to Fonda, once again confirming that he is not quitting his show as he explained that he only meant that he just doesn’t want to have to talk about Trump, 78, for the next four years.
“What I was saying was that I didn’t want to do another Trump term,” he clarified. “Not just because I don’t think it’s going to be possibly a great time for America. Maybe again, not going to pre-hate anything, but because I’ve already done all the jokes about Donald Trump.”
He continued: “I don’t know what else to say about the guy. But of course, he will provide us with a lot of new material. And I’ll get into it, but I was hoping that in the episodic television show that is America, I was hoping for some new characters.”
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The season 23 premiere of Real Time with Bill Maher airs on Friday, Jan. 17 on HBO at 10:00 p.m. ET/7:00 p.m. PT.
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