There’s an ideological chasm between comedian Bill Maher and Breitbart’s senior editor Milo Yiannopolous, but the two appeared to bond on Maher’s show Real Time over a central tenet: the freedom to provoke, no matter the consequences.
Although Maher has built a career out of attempting to slaughter the sacred cows of conservative politics, his chat with one of the alt-right’s most prominent / abhorrent figures was far gentler than it could (read: should) have been.
Yiannopolous – who is gay – came in swinging with his discriminatory BS, reaffirming his belief he won’t hire gay employees due to “too much drugs, too much sex, they never show up to work… not as bad as women, but no, I don’t hire gays.”
The audience booed, and Yiannopolous pointed to ’em with a quip about how they’re “very easily triggered.” Seemingly against type, Maher diverted away from that belligerent intolerance, content to avoid the “many things I could start an argument with you about.”
So they started talking about free speech, which in Yiannopolous’ case, is more about securing the right to be an arsehole than anything else. But Maher kind of went along with it, even letting Yiannopolous off easy for that deeply troubling Leslie Jones Twitter saga.
(Yiannopolous also totally breezed over the fact his words incited his followers to bombard Jones with brutally racist shit. Then again, he simply doesn’t believe racist words carry any weight.)
A pretty big racket was made before Yiannopolous’ appearance regarding the fact it could legitimise him in some way. Keep in mind, this is the same show Barack Obama visited late last year, and you just know this bloke will be hopped up on a more mainstream audience.
With that in mind, it’s important to watch this and recognise it’s not normal, and Yiannopolous is not a normal guest – and that’s what makes watching Maher find a middle ground with someone who is so full to the brim with blind fucking hatred so uniquely uncomfortable.
Don’t feed the trolls, otherwise this happens:
