Extreme left-wing bomb thrower and fired ESPN commentator Keith Olbermann took a blowtorch to HBO comedian Bill Maher in an expletive-laden attack on social media Thursday for deciding to get his show back on the air and disregarding the Hollywood writers and actors strike.
Olbermann’s Sept. 14 attack came after Variety reported that Maher is putting his HBO Real Time show back into production without writers despite the strike that is lumbering onward without an end in sight.
“Without writers, the new weekly SCAB edition of ‘Real Time With @billmaher’ will be 83 seconds long,” Olbermann railed. “As somebody who’s known you since 1978: Fuck you, Bill, you selfish and unfunny scumbag.”
Without writers, the new weekly SCAB edition of "Real Time With @billmaher" will be 83 seconds long https://t.co/EkMqgeHGYL
As somebody who's known you since 1978: Fuck you, Bill, you selfish and unfunny scumbag
— Keith Olbermann⌚️ (@KeithOlbermann) September 14, 2023
The labor strike started in Hollywood when the writers walked off the job at the beginning of May. The actors soon joined them early in July when it became clear that the studios were in no rush to settle with the writers. Thus far there seems to be a complete impasse between the studios and the two labor unions and few concessions have been offered to the strikers.
With the strike dragging on, Maher has decided to go ahead with his show, though he contends he is not crossing any picket lines because he is going forward without writers.
“Real Time is coming back, unfortunately, sans writers or writing,” Maher explained in a X post.
Maher went on to note that his staffers are “struggling mightily,” so he feels it is time to get back to work so his employees can earn a living since the strike has not come to an end.
“It has been five months, and it is time to bring people back to work,” he said.
Maher added that he will abide by the terms of the strike and will do no scripted pieces such as his monologue and other features.
“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,” he wrote.
Still, despite his proclaimed devotion to his writers, several weeks ago he was also seen warning Hollywood’s writers that no one owes them a living.
Maher has yet to reply to Olbermann on X.
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