Comedian and political commentator Bill Maher has launched a scathing attack on the organisers of the Golden Globes, accusing them of being profoundly out of touch for overlooking Joe Rogan in the ceremony's inaugural Best Podcast category.
The Podcast Award That Sparked Outrage
During the latest episode of his Club Random Podcast, Maher expressed his disbelief that the hugely popular Joe Rogan Experience was not among the nominees for the first-ever Golden Globe for Best Podcast. The award, presented by Snoop Dogg on January 11, was instead given to former Saturday Night Live star Amy Poehler for her show 'Good Hang with Amy Poehler'.
Maher raised the issue with his guests, comedians David Spade and Dana Carvey, who both appeared unaware the award even existed. Carvey, 70, joked about whether his own podcast with Spade, Fly on the Wall, had been nominated. "They only nominated like the super woke stuff," Maher, 69, retorted sharply.
A List of 'Woke' Nominees?
The other podcasts shortlisted for the award included Armchair Expert with Dax Shepard, NPR's Up First, SmartLess with Jason Bateman, Will Arnett, and Sean Hayes, The Mel Robbins Podcast, and Alex Cooper's Call Her Daddy. Maher conceded there may have been good shows in the mix but insisted the omission of Rogan was glaring. "I mean, it is kind of popular," he said of Rogan's programme, which draws an estimated eight million viewers monthly on Apple and millions more on Spotify.
Carvey agreed with Maher's assessment, praising Rogan: "He's absolutely brilliant at what he does." The exact listener figures for Poehler's winning podcast, which launched early last year, are not publicly available.
An 'Out-of-Touch' Hollywood Bubble
Maher, an outspoken progressive, suggested the snub was symptomatic of a wider cultural disconnect within the entertainment industry. He mused that it "speaks to living in the Bluesky bubble," referencing the liberal-leaning social media platform. He directly urged members of the Golden Globe Foundation and other Hollywood elites to "get out of your f*cking bubble."
"I want to be one of you, I am one of you, but you’re just so hard to defend because you’re just such... f*cking smug a**holes," the HBO host declared, labelling Los Angeles the "epicenter of the problem." His guests concurred with his sentiment.
The conversation also turned to politics, with Maher criticising the Democratic Party and referencing the 2020 election. Carvey added, "You can't have movie stars and politicians that have hundreds of millions of dollars lecturing you. It's just the elitist thing that came out of all that."
Interestingly, Joe Rogan's own political stance has shifted recently. After endorsing Donald Trump in October, he has criticised the current administration's policies, calling tariffs on Canada "ridiculous" and deportation measures "horrific." His clashes with the administration began in March following comments about Trump's trade policies.
While Maher attended the awards, neither his podcast nor those of his guests were nominated, adding a personal layer to his critique of the Hollywood establishment's selection process.
