Wanda Sykes: Bill Maher Confronted Me Over Globes Joke
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- Wanda Sykes roasted Bill Maher while presenting the best stand-up comedy award at the January Golden Globes, telling him "you give us so much, but I would love a little less"
- Bill Maher confronted Sykes backstage as comics waited for their cars, asking "What was that about?" and ultimately calling her joke "stupid"
- Sykes fired back that she had received "a lot of texts" praising the joke and that people "don't like you," quipping: "You're watching Fox News, and I'm over here on MSNBC"
- Maher then asked Sykes to appear on his podcast; she responded: "Absolutely not"
- Sykes's Golden Globes bit opened with the line that some people were "pissed off that a queer Black woman is up here doing the job of two mediocre white guys"
- Sykes recounted the backstage exchange on Vulture's "Good One" podcast with host Jesse David Fox, adding that Maher "didn't care for it"
Why it matters: The clash gives the public a rare unfiltered look at a backstage argument between two prominent comedians with explicitly opposing media-politics identities (Sykes invoking MSNBC, Maher reading as Fox News-aligned), and the fact that Maher followed his criticism with a podcast invite — which Sykes refused — shows how awards-show roasts can curdle into real relationship friction rather than play along with the bit.
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