You may want to hold your breath whenever Bill Maher wades into anything remotely related to sports media discourse. The host of HBO’s Real Time with Bill Maher and the Club Random with Bill Maher podcast often pushes the limits as he attempts still to say offensive things in the age of political correctness.
But whether you think Maher is funny or not is sort of beside the point here, as him using this past Friday’s show to take aim at Travis Kelce and Bussin’ with the Boys is certainly noteworthy. Maher was obviously kidding as he made a pass at athletes going on a sports podcast to talk about their girlfriends, but there’s also a good chance he actually believes what he’s saying.
Maher was making reference to Kelce’s recent appearance on the Barstool Sports podcast, hosted by ex-NFLers Taylor Lewan and Will Compton. The interview was a huge success for the Bussin’ with the Boys crew, especially considering that this is one of the very first mediums — not his own podcast (New Heights) — that Kelce has spoken at length regarding his relationship with Taylor Swift.
While Compton and Lewan have several shows that have reached hundreds of thousands and millions of views on YouTube. The episode, which debuted last week, has nearly half a million views at the writing of this article, and that does not account for the listenership wherever people listen to their podcasts, whether it be Spotify or Apple Music. And you also have to account that this episode attracts a whole new demographic, as fans of the pop sensation will undoubtedly tune in — if they haven’t already.
And Maher seemed to be one of those viewers (or at least one of his writers was).
“New rule: don’t go on a sports podcast and talk about your girlfriend,” he says. “It’s a sports podcast; you’re supposed to talk about scores and trades and how fast some guy can run. You know, gay stuff.”
Assault!!! pic.twitter.com/Z0zCOboKaC
— Will Compton (@_willcompton) June 30, 2024
The segment read: “Fan Up.”
We aren’t exactly sure what Kelce, who has supported Swift during the international part of her Eras Tour, would be talking about during the football offseason. He can repeat some of the similar things and talking points he’s already said about the Kansas City Chiefs winning consecutive Super Bowl and eying a third, or he can wade into the discussion surrounding a relationship that just about everyone is interested in.
Except Maher, we suppose.
At the same time, Lewan and Compton didn’t ask Kelce about Swift until the 1 hour, 14-minute mark of the episode. They talked for a good 45 minutes about things not about his girlfriend until being asked about his relationship with Swift nearly an hour into the interview.
But it shouldn’t be surprising that Maher would make a crack at this, considering he thought it was soft of the Cincinnati Bengals and Buffalo Bills not to resume play after Damar Hamlin had to be resurrected on the field.
Compton took it in stride, sarcastically responding with “Assault!!!” but it still raises the question of whether Maher’s criticism comes from a genuine belief in the sanctity of sports analysis or simply a desire to be provocative.
And based on his comedic career, it’s likely the latter.
