On Friday’s episode of “Real Time,” host Bill Maher slammed the co-hosts of “The View” for “silencing” themselves by waiting several days to comment on Jimmy Kimmel’s show being suspended.
Speaking about Democrats more broadly, he said, “It wasn’t a good look for the woman party that all the guys were speaking out for Jimmy Kimmel when Trump went after him except on the woman show, where for five days the outspoken hosts were suddenly as quiet as a geisha. Then on the fifth day they rose and said, ‘No one silences us.’”
The show had been, initially, conspicuously quiet on the decision by ABC to pull Kimmel off the air following the comedian’s controversial remarks about the alleged killer of Charlie Kirk, leading critics to suggest they were being pressured to remain silent by their own network.
Comedian Bill Maher on the set of HBO’s “Real Time” on Saturday, Oct. 3, 2025.
Maher referenced “The View” co-host Whoopi Goldberg on Sept. 22 declaring that “no one silences us.” He argued that “no one had to” because “you silenced yourselves.”
“Whoopi Goldberg continued, ‘Did you all really think we weren’t going to talk about Jimmy Kimmel?’ Uh, no. I thought you would, but then you didn’t,” Maher joked. “Five days. Talk about needing extra time to get ready.”
Representatives of “The View” declined Fox News Digital’s request for a comment.
This wasn’t the first time Maher called out the “outspoken hosts” of “The View” for their unusual silence on the controversy, given that the show typically opens with its “Hot Topics” segment featuring commentary on major headlines.
“I’m friendly with the ladies on ‘The View,’ but they didn’t say anything about this, this week. Nothing,” Maher noted the day after Kimmel’s suspension.
“You know, because it’s never been their thing to weigh in on the issues. It’s just an upbeat party show. That’s why they hired people named Joy [Behar] and Sunny [Hostin] and Whoopi [Goldberg],” he quipped.
“Jimmy Kimmel Live!” was temporarily suspended by ABC and the Walt Disney Company on Wednesday, Sept. 17. (That day’s “The View” had already aired.) The “View” co-hosts neglected to mention Kimmel’s suspension on Thursday’s episode, and Friday’s show was taped prior to the news about Kimmel’s suspension breaking.
On Monday, Sept. 22, five days after the late-night host’s suspension, co-host Whoopi Goldberg claimed the show “took a breath” to see if Kimmel would publicly address his show’s suspension.
“Now, look, did y’all really think we weren’t going to talk about Jimmy Kimmel?” Goldberg said. “I mean, have you watched the show over the last 29 seasons? So you know no one silences us, and to all my friends who reached out, you have to know, it’s OK, we’re still here. We’re still broadcasting. And when the news broke last week about Jimmy Kimmel’s suspension, we took a breath to see if Jimmy was going to say anything about it first. We did the same thing with Stephen Colbert. Then our show was on tape on Friday, but we are live here today, and we’re getting into it now.”
