Bill Maher Sends Blunt Message About Oscars Diversity Campaign

Bill Maher sent a blunt message about an Oscars diversity campaign ahead of the 2026 Academy Awards on Sunday, March 15.

On the Friday, March 13 episode of Real Time With Bill Maher, the late-night host, 70, took aim at #OscarsSoWhite during his “New Rule” segment. The campaign marks its 10th anniversary at the 98th Academy Awards.

“Someone must wear a ribbon that says, ‘We won,'” Maher joked. “Just as a way to remind progressives, hey, you’re progressive. Progress is what you’re selling. Take the win.”

He then quipped, “The Oscars are no longer a long, boring show full of white people. It’s a long, boring show full of all people.”

Maher then listed Oscar-winning films like Everything Everywhere All at Once, Parasite, CODA, Green Book, The Shape of Water, Moonlight, and Nomadland. Additionally, he pointed out that eight of the last 10 Best Director awards were won by “underrepresented groups.” So were 60% of the honorary awards.

“You can’t argue with a straight face, or even a gay face, that the Academy in 2026 still overlooks minority achievement. Or that Hollywood is biased in favor of all white people,” Maher argued. “Just Australians.”

He also claimed that Academy voters were casting their votes for nominees just because they were white. “Hollywood isn’t a secret cabal of racists,” he declared. “It’s a secret cabal of people terrified of looking like racists.”

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Maher continued, “I’m just tired of no matter how much progress is made, social justice warriors feeling the need to gaslight us as if none of it had happened. A couple of years ago, the Academy established a very complex rulebook that said you couldn’t even be considered for Best Picture unless you met certain criteria, like 30% of the crew, or two department heads had to be from underrepresented groups, and a main storyline had to be as well.”

According to the current Oscars standard, Maher said, iconic movies like Braveheart, Titanic, Amadeus, and Apollo 13 wouldn’t be nominated today.

“The whole thing is so Hollywood,” Maher bemoaned. “A room full of no-nothings who call themselves the Academy, making everyone tremble before their judgment, even though their judgment is often terrible and fails the test of time. Maybe the hashtag should be #OscarsSoWrong.”

Real Time With Bill Maher, Fridays at 10/9c, HBO; 98th Academy Awards, Sunday, March 15 at 7 p.m. ET on ABC and streaming on Hulu

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