{"id":35687,"date":"2026-08-10T03:12:36","date_gmt":"2026-08-09T22:12:36","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/?p=35687"},"modified":"2026-08-10T03:12:36","modified_gmt":"2026-08-09T22:12:36","slug":"bill-maher-jokes-about-ariana-grandes-weight-real-time-audience-groans","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/?p=35687","title":{"rendered":"Bill Maher Jokes About Ariana Grande\u2019s Weight, Real Time Audience Groans"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><script>\r\n  atOptions = {\r\n    'key' : '644b717812d811d6a1c1fc5b6ccd6fa6',\r\n    'format' : 'iframe',\r\n    'height' : 90,\r\n    'width' : 728,\r\n    'params' : {}\r\n  };\r\n<\/script>\r\n<script src=\"https:\/\/www.highperformanceformat.com\/644b717812d811d6a1c1fc5b6ccd6fa6\/invoke.js\"><\/script>\r\n<br \/>\n<\/p>\n<div xmlns:default=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\">\n<p class=\"paragraph larva \/\/  a-font-body-m     \">\n\tEven <a href=\"https:\/\/www.hollywoodreporter.com\/t\/bill-maher\/\" id=\"auto-tag_bill-maher_1\" data-tag=\"bill-maher\">Bill Maher<\/a>\u2018s <em>Real Time<\/em> studio audience wasn\u2019t big fans of his recent joke about <a href=\"https:\/\/www.hollywoodreporter.com\/t\/ariana-grande\/\" id=\"auto-tag_ariana-grande_1\" data-tag=\"ariana-grande\">Ariana Grande<\/a>\u2018s weight.<\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph larva \/\/  a-font-body-m     \">\n\tDuring Friday\u2019s episode of the HBO program, the host and comedian said during his opening monologue, \u201cI hope the aliens are here, I do. I hope they\u2019re here and watching us and they\u2019re going to save us. And, by the way, the [Trump] administration this week, just a few days ago, maybe yesterday, unleashed a new trove of UFO files.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph larva \/\/  a-font-body-m     \">\n\tMaher continued, \u201cInteresting things in there. Triangular craft, weird lights over an army base, a stick-like figure with large eyes. Oh, that was just an Ariana Grande video.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph larva \/\/  a-font-body-m     \">\n\tWhile his audience laughed at his first joke about the Grammy winner, it was Maher\u2019s next jab that didn\u2019t land well. \u201cPlease, we kid. We kid. Maybe that joke will make her eat something,\u201d he quipped, drawing loud groans from the crowd.<\/p>\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed is-type-rich is-provider-x wp-block-embed-x\">\n<div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\">\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-width=\"500\" data-dnt=\"true\">\n<p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">The White House released a new wave of UFO files. Sightings include a triangular craft in the sky, high-speed orbs near an army base, and a stick-like figure with large eyes, but that was just Ariana Grande. <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/buBBGk2Ze4\" rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\">pic.twitter.com\/buBBGk2Ze4<\/a><\/p>\n<p>\u2014 Bill Maher (@billmaher) <a href=\"https:\/\/x.com\/billmaher\/status\/2085926015193477317?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\">August 8, 2026<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<\/div>\n<\/figure>\n<p class=\"paragraph larva \/\/  a-font-body-m     \">\n\tThis wasn\u2019t the first time Maher\u2019s made jokes about someone\u2019s weight. He <a href=\"https:\/\/youtu.be\/Dm4TAdiEFn0?si=d4fYl1YSm_8tBYIr\" data-type=\"link\" data-id=\"https:\/\/youtu.be\/Dm4TAdiEFn0?si=d4fYl1YSm_8tBYIr\" rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\">said on <em>Real Time<\/em> in 2019<\/a>, \u201cCan fat be beautiful? That\u2019s in the eye of the beholder, but healthy no. That\u2019s science. I know this is a controversial thing to say now in today\u2019s America, but being fat is a bad thing. We shouldn\u2019t taunt people about it and overeating shouldn\u2019t be singled out as the only vice; it\u2019s not. We all have something, but there\u2019s no smoking acceptance or drunk acceptance when I drank too much.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph larva \/\/  a-font-body-m     \">\n\tMaher later added, \u201cFat shaming doesn\u2019t need to end; it needs to make a comeback. Some amount of shame is good.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph larva \/\/  a-font-body-m     \">\n\tGrande recently made headlines when it was revealed that the <a data-id=\"https:\/\/www.hollywoodreporter.com\/music\/music-news\/ariana-grande-step-back-from-visibility-public-scrutiny-1236661834\/\" data-type=\"link\" href=\"https:\/\/www.hollywoodreporter.com\/music\/music-news\/ariana-grande-step-back-from-visibility-public-scrutiny-1236661834\/\">\u201cpetal\u201d singer woul<\/a><a href=\"https:\/\/www.hollywoodreporter.com\/music\/music-news\/ariana-grande-step-back-from-visibility-public-scrutiny-1236661834\/\" data-type=\"link\" data-id=\"https:\/\/www.hollywoodreporter.com\/music\/music-news\/ariana-grande-step-back-from-visibility-public-scrutiny-1236661834\/\">d<\/a><a data-id=\"https:\/\/www.hollywoodreporter.com\/music\/music-news\/ariana-grande-step-back-from-visibility-public-scrutiny-1236661834\/\" data-type=\"link\" href=\"https:\/\/www.hollywoodreporter.com\/music\/music-news\/ariana-grande-step-back-from-visibility-public-scrutiny-1236661834\/\"> be \u201ctaking a step back from visibility<\/a> after she completes the Eternal Sunshine Tour.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph larva \/\/  a-font-body-m     \">\n\tOnce the tour wraps in September, a statement previously shared with <em>The Hollywood Reporter<\/em> said she\u2019ll be \u201ctaking a much-deserved break from public-facing work and appearances, which has led to endless, ongoing public scrutiny.\u201d Over the last year, Grande has faced a wave of online commentary surrounding her health and body.<\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph larva \/\/  a-font-body-m     \">\n\tThe \u201cHate That I Made You Love Me\u201d artist later clarified at one of her shows in Chicago that<a href=\"https:\/\/www.hollywoodreporter.com\/music\/music-news\/ariana-grande-clarifies-why-step-back-public-eye-after-tour-1236663495\/\" data-type=\"link\" data-id=\"https:\/\/www.hollywoodreporter.com\/music\/music-news\/ariana-grande-clarifies-why-step-back-public-eye-after-tour-1236663495\/\"> the decision to step back from the public eye<\/a> \u201cwas not a reactive or impulsive thing.\u201d She also told the crowd, \u201cIt was something that I have decided. A plan that I had quietly made a long time ago. It was a decision that was made from a thoughtful and empowered place.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p><script async src=\"\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><br \/>\n<br \/><script async=\"async\" data-cfasync=\"false\" src=\"https:\/\/pl30214220.effectivecpmnetwork.com\/9ab3d4df8a7e1a6171e16ddbf732cc19\/invoke.js\"><\/script>\r\n<div id=\"container-9ab3d4df8a7e1a6171e16ddbf732cc19\"><\/div>\r\n<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Even Bill Maher\u2018s Real Time studio audience wasn\u2019t big fans of his recent joke about Ariana Grande\u2018s weight. During Friday\u2019s episode of the HBO program, the host and comedian said during his opening monologue, \u201cI hope the aliens are here, I do. I hope they\u2019re here and watching us and they\u2019re going to save us&#8230;.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":35688,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/www.hollywoodreporter.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/Bill-Maher-Ariana-Grande-getty-H-2026.png?w=1296&h=730&crop=1","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-35687","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-pics-news"],"brizy_media":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/35687","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=35687"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/35687\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/35688"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=35687"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=35687"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=35687"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}