Bill Burr Bill Maher controversy — Image Credits: Club Random Podcast/YouTube

Bill Burr & Bill Maher Palestine & Israel Controversy Explained

May 17, 2024

On May 13, Bill Maher put out an episode of his Club Random Podcast with Bill Burr as his guest. Very quickly, some of the topics discussed grabbed the attention of viewers due to the volatility of the subjects, including cancel culture, and ongoing protests on university campuses in the United States, which led to the topic of the Israel–Hamas war.

Let’s take a look at what exactly both Bills discussed on the podcast about Palestine and Israel, and what the Bill Burr controversy is actually about.

What did Bill Burr say on the Bill Maher podcast about Palestine?

A little more than halfway through the podcast, while talking about their stand-up performances, Bill Maher mentioned how the Boston audience loved him. This conversation soon moved to performing at universities, after which he brought up the ongoing protests at university campuses.

Maher asked Burr, “Have you heard what’s going on on college campuses these days?”, to which the latter responded by saying, “I don’t watch the news.” Bill Maher continued making his point, “You don’t realize that college campuses erupted with the kids demonstrating for HAMAS? They are in with the terrorists.” which made Bill Burr argue, “Okay, but they were for the Palestinians.” Maher then responded by saying “Well, it’s sort of the same cause. Why? Are you?”, and Burr replied saying, “Umm, I’m on the side of the kids.”

Bill Maher’s Club Random with Bill Burr as his guest

This short discussion about Israel and Palestine on the Club Random podcast has proven to be divisive. In this very sensitive territory of conversation about the ongoing war, tensions arose quickly. Viewers also saw Bill Burr slamming Bill Maher towards the end of this topic by responding to him and saying, “Oh, stop talking like a general.” And when Maher tried to continue speaking on the subject, Burr replied, “It isn’t your thing, it isn’t. You’re like that guy that has a fantasy football team and thinks he’s a f****** GM.”

Bill Burr clearly did not hold back during this conversation with Bill Maher, and that is what seems to have sparked this controversy.