Bill Maher Says He Fears For His Life As He Announces Touring Update

Bill Maher is stepping away from stand-up comedy after decades on the road, citing the country’s increasingly hostile political climate and a growing sense of personal risk. The “Real Time” host revealed during a conversation with comedian Patton Oswalt that he no longer feels safe touring amid rising tension between Democrats and Republicans. Maher said the political environment shifted dramatically at the end of last year following President Donald Trump’s landslide victory over Kamala Harris in the presidential election. That moment, he explained, marked a turning point.

On the “Club Random” podcast, Maher opened up about what led him to reassess what it meant to perform in such a volatile climate. “I don’t want to be out there in this country, in this political atmosphere,” Maher said, noting that as a performer known for politically charged material. “It’s a good time not to be out there.”

The comedian added that the risk doesn’t come from one side, but from both. “I could get shot by the left or the right,” he told Oswalt, calling today’s climate too volatile for a cross-country comedy tour.

Maher’s comments arrive just weeks after conservative activist Charlie Kirk was fatally shot at a Utah university event, a killing that further underscored the nation’s partisan divide. Maher previously criticized the Emmys for ignoring the incident during their broadcast.

“Would it have killed someone to get up there, since they all want to talk about their politics… just to say we had a political assassination this week and that’s wrong,” he said during a September 20 episode. “They would have been booed off the stage because he was on the wrong team, so you’re not even allowed to say that.”

Alongside concerns about safety, Maher admitted he’s grown tired of the relentless travel that comes with touring. The former “Politically Incorrect” host explained that while he always performed well and sold tickets, he never reached arena-level numbers, despite believing his talent surpassed many who did.

“I just got tired of being twice as funny as people who were selling twice as many tickets as me,” Maher said. “Not that I didn’t sell a lot of tickets and do great theaters, but I didn’t sell arenas.”

He also acknowledged that age plays a role in who sells the biggest venues today. “Some people did [sell out arenas] who, frankly, are not that great,” he said. “But, you know, when the audience is 35 to 45, they don’t wanna see somebody 70.”

This latest career update comes as Maher doubles down on concerns that today’s political climate mirrors one of Hollywood’s darkest eras. During a recent episode of his “Club Random” podcast, the comedian reflected on how speaking openly and refusing to fall neatly into one political category has made him a target within liberal circles and the entertainment industry.

Maher compared the current cultural landscape to the infamous 1950s blacklist, arguing that Hollywood now punishes people not for communism, but for failing to meet specific ideological expectations. “They have their own kind of blacklist now,” Maher said. “It’s not like they aren’t sort of recapitulating that, when it was a witch hunt about communists, now it’s a witch hunt for people who aren’t woke enough.”

He noted that, despite his frequent criticism of Donald Trump, even engaging with people across the political spectrum has led some on the left to accuse him of crossing a line.