The WGA has taken a swipe at Bill Maher after the comedian revealed he was bringing back HBO’s Real Time during the writers strike.
The guild has called Maher’s decision “disappointing” and said that it would picket the show, which is filmed at Television City in LA.
“Bill Maher’s decision to go back on the air while his Guild is on strike is disappointing. If he goes forward with his plan, he needs to honor more than ‘the spirit of the strike’. Bill Maher is obligated as a WGA member to follow the strike rules and not perform any writing services. It is difficult to imagine how Real Time with Bill Maher can go forward without a violation of WGA strike rules taking place. WGA will be picketing this show,” it said in a statement.
Maher revealed earlier today that he was going back to work “sans writers or writing”.
Given that Maher himself says that he is one of the writers, that makes it difficult.
“Real Time is coming back, unfortunately, sans writers or writing. It has been five months, and it is time to bring people back to work. The writers have important issues that I sympathize with, and hope they are addressed to their satisfaction, but they are not the only people with issues, problems, and concerns. Despite some assistance from me, much of the staff is struggling mightily,” he wrote earlier.
As expected, Maher has taken a lot of criticism from writers on social media, who have been using the word ‘scab’ to describe his actions. However, he did receive some words of encouragement from Twitter/X owner Elon Musk, who said, “Maybe worth posting some material on this platform. The reach is enormous.”
