Bill Maher chastised LGBTQ singer Chappell Roan during his Friday night show “Real Time with Bill Maher” for comments the artist made about Gaza in a TikTok video.
He referenced her earlier comments in which she said it’s “important to use critical thinking” when it comes to the Israel-Hamas war. Roan also mentioned the importance of questioning herself and the company’s “algorithm.”
“There’s a whole history of the Middle East that you and your fans aren’t hearing about,” Maher said after playing Roan’s video.
Maher has made several political comments in recent weeks, including condemning former President Trump’s FEMA claims. This week, he took a shot at Roan’s statements as a popular young musician and a member of Generation Z, an important bloc of voters.
“I didn’t learn about the Middle East from TikTok, which is a Chinese company whose totalitarian government would just love to have America’s youth hating America,” Maher stated in comments targeting Roan. “That’s some of that algorithm stuff you say you want to look into. Now, first off, the fact that you don’t know much history isn’t your fault.
“You live in the United States, where the schools stopped doing that whole teaching facts thing a while ago. But getting all your history from TikTok is like getting all your calories from Hostess,” Maher reamed. “I know you’re moved by what you see on there. We all are, the dead Palestinian bodies.”
He continued his comments against the “Pink Pony Club” singer by invoking the Oct. 7 attack on Israel by Hamas.
“But it’s odd that your generation didn’t seem nearly as moved by the Jewish bodies on October 7th. You killed it at Coachella this year, but when Hamas kills at a music festival, it’s a whole other thing,” Maher added.
He then spoke about Jewish history in the Middle East, pushing back on claims that the group were “colonizers.”
“My guess is that Gen Z hearts are hardened by the propaganda you see on TikTok, which likes to call the Jews colonizers,” Maher said. “But colonizers are intruders who have no history in an area, like when Spain conquered the Mayans or like when your mom took over Facebook.”
Maher concluded by warning of the dangers Roan would face in a country that doesn’t tout the First Amendment as a member of the LGBTQ community.
“Chappell, if you think it was repressive growing up queer in the Midwest, try the Mideast,” he said.
