Current:Home > MyBill Maher says "Real Time" to return, but without writers -SecureWealth Bridge
Bill Maher says "Real Time" to return, but without writers
View
Date:2025-04-16 05:53:01
Citing the need "to bring people back to work," comedian Bill Maher announced Wednesday that his HBO political talk show "Real Time" will return to the air, but without writers amid the ongoing strike, now in its fifth month.
"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," Maher said in a statement posted to social media, indicating that the economic wellbeing of his staff played a role in his decision.
"Despite some assistance from me, much of the staff is struggling mightily," Maher wrote.
The 67-year-old also noted that although the show would resume, it would be without several writer-driven segments, including his monologue and his end-of-show editorial piece, admitting that the new episodes "will not be as good as our normal show, full stop."
"I love my writers, I am one of them, but I'm not prepared to lose an entire year and see so many below-the-line people suffer so much," Maher said of his show, which is filmed at Television City studio lot in Los Angeles.
The WGA in a statement posted to social media Wednesday night called Maher's decision "disappointing."
"If he goes forward with his plan, he needs to honor more than 'the spirit of the strike,'" the union said, also vowing that its members will be "picketing the show."
"As a WGA member," the union wrote, Maher "is obligated to follow the strike rules and not perform any writing services."
Maher's announcement comes just two days after Drew Barrymore also said that her daytime talk show would be returning with new episodes beginning Sept. 18.
"I own this choice," she said in a statement Monday. "We are in compliance with not discussing or promoting film and television that is struck of any kind."
Her decision sparked significant backlash in the entertainment community, however, and also prompted the WGA to say it would picket her show, which records at the CBS Broadcast Center in Manhattan.
"'The Drew Barrymore Show' will not be performing any writing work covered by the WGA strike," A spokesperson for CBS Media Ventures, which distributes the show, said in a statement.
In early May, just days after the WGA strike began, Barrymore had pulled out of hosting duties for the MTV Movie & TV Awards in solidarity with WGA.
"I made a choice to walk away from the MTV, film and television awards because I was the host and it had a direct conflict with what the strike was dealing with which was studios, streamers, film, and television," Barrymore said in her statement this week. "It was also in the first week of the strike and so I did what I thought was the appropriate thing at the time to stand in solidarity with the writers."
MTV and CBS Media Ventures are both part of Paramount Global, which also owns CBS News.
Hollywood writers have been on strike since early May, and they were joined on the picket lines by Hollywood actors in mid-July after the two groups each failed to reach a deal with the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers, the group which represents all major Hollywood studios. It marks the first time since 1960 that both the WGA and the Screen Actors Guild have been on strike simultaneously, effectively shutting down nearly all scripted production in Hollywood.
Paramount Pictures, one of the studios involved in the negotiations, is also part of Paramount Global. Some CBS News staff are SAG-AFTRA or Writers Guild members, but their contracts are not affected by the strikes.
— S. Dev and Gina Martinez contributed to this report.
- In:
- SAG-AFTRA
- HBO
- Drew Barrymore
- Writers Guild of America
- Strike
- Drew Barrymore Show
veryGood! (3)
Related
- Backstage at New York's Jingle Ball with Jimmy Fallon, 'Queer Eye' and Meghan Trainor
- Why are there NFL games on Saturday? How to watch Saturday's slate of games.
- 2023 in other words: AI might be the term of the year, but consider these far-flung contenders
- Stock market today: Asian shares are mixed ahead of the Fed’s decision on interest rates
- Meta releases AI model to enhance Metaverse experience
- Southern California school janitor who spent years in jail acquitted of child sexual abuse
- How rich is Harvard? It's bigger than the economies of 120 nations.
- North Carolina officer who repeatedly struck woman during arrest gets 40-hour suspension
- From family road trips to travel woes: Americans are navigating skyrocketing holiday costs
- Indhu Rubasingham named as first woman to lead Britain’s National Theatre
Ranking
- Have Dry, Sensitive Skin? You Need To Add These Gentle Skincare Products to Your Routine
- Missouri county to pay $1.2 million to settle lawsuit over inmate restraint chair death
- FBI to exhume woman’s body from unsolved 1969 killing in Netflix’s ‘The Keepers’
- US credibility is on the line in Ukraine funding debate
- Federal appeals court upholds $14.25 million fine against Exxon for pollution in Texas
- Crews work to contain gas pipeline spill in Washington state
- US to spend $700M on new embassy in Ireland, breaks ground on new embassy in Saudi Arabia
- Attacks on health care are on track to hit a record high in 2023. Can it be stopped?
Recommendation
2025 'Doomsday Clock': This is how close we are to self
Fashionable and utilitarian, the fanny pack rises again. What's behind the renaissance?
Two indicted in Maine cold case killing solved after 15 years, police say
André Braugher, star of 'Brooklyn 99' and 'Homicide,' dies at 61
Nearly 400 USAID contract employees laid off in wake of Trump's 'stop work' order
Hilary Duff announces she's pregnant with baby No. 4: 'Buckle up buttercups'
Why Dakota Johnson Can Easily Sleep 14 Hours a Day
Why are there NFL games on Saturday? How to watch Saturday's slate of games.