Wanda Sykes says Bill Maher confronted her over joke

Wanda Sykes says Bill Maher privately confronted her after she joked about him during the January Golden Globes, calling the moment “stupid.” The spat adds heat as Maher is set to receive the Mark Twain Prize from the Trump-Kennedy Center for the Arts weeks af

Wanda Sykes didn’t see Bill Maher’s reaction in public first. She says it came in the quiet minutes after her Golden Globes joke—when the comedian approached her with a complaint.

Sykes, who roasted Maher during her appearance at the January Golden Globe Awards, later told Vulture’s “Good One” podcast that Maher pulled her aside after the show. She recalled that they were waiting for their cars when he asked, “What was that about?”

Sykes said she told him it was a joke. In her telling. Maher pushed back. saying. “Well. I mean. it wasn’t even a joke.” She responded that she heard laughter and insisted it clearly landed. Then she says she delivered the line she believed Maher was embodying from the original bit: “See?. You’re doing exactly what we said in the joke. We need less of this. Do this less. You’re epitomizing the joke!. Less of this!”.

“He didn’t care for it,” Sykes said on the podcast.

The exchange, according to her, escalated into a flood of messages. She said Maher told her he was getting “a lot of texts,” and that people were asking what she meant. When he called it a “stupid joke,” Sykes said she felt the confrontation shift.

“I was like, ‘OK, now you’re gonna get it,’” she recalled. She said she told him she had received messages too—texts praising the joke and pushing back on any idea it missed the mark.

Sykes also said Maher invited her to be a guest on his “Club Random” podcast, an offer she rejected: “I was like, ‘Absolutely not.’”

At the Golden Globes, Sykes presented the award for best stand-up comedy performance. While doing so, she quipped, “Bill Maher, you give us so much, but I would love a little less,” landing as the only remark about Maher that visibly drew displeasure from the audience.

As Sykes made her comment, the broadcast showed Maher looking unamused in the crowd. Sykes said she joked about all of the nominees in the Golden Globes’ stand-up category while presenting, but Maher was the standout with his reaction.

The stakes of the moment grow sharper because. weeks after his tiff with President Trump. Maher is scheduled to receive the Mark Twain Prize from the Trump-Kennedy Center for the Arts. The same window also includes another layer of comedy politics: Maher ultimately lost the Golden Globe to Ricky Gervais. who was not in attendance.

Sykes said she made jokes about Gervais as well, including jokingly thanking “God and the trans community” on his behalf. Gervais is famously an atheist and has drawn criticism for jokes about trans people.

After the Golden Globes, Maher addressed the award situation on his “Club Random” podcast. In an episode released after the ceremony but recorded beforehand, Maher said he would be “shocked” if he won. He also said, “I speak freely, and this woke town … hates that.”

The timeline is now tight: a January Golden Globes moment that Sykes portrays as a private confrontation, a visible reaction captured on-air, and a near-term honor from the Trump-Kennedy Center for the Arts after Maher’s earlier clash with President Trump.

A representative for Maher was reached out to for comment.

Wanda Sykes Bill Maher Golden Globes Mark Twain Prize Trump-Kennedy Center for the Arts Club Random Vulture Ricky Gervais stand-up comedy