The words “Too Soon?” aren’t in Bill Maher’s vocabulary.
Back in 2006, just weeks after the death of Steve Irwin, Maher showed up at a Halloween party dressed as Irwin with a bloody stingray protruding from his chest.
And on Friday night’s edition of his HBO series Real Time with Bill Maher, the no-fucks-given comedian made the very first publicly televised cracks about Caitlyn Jenner following her admission to Diane Sawyer on ABC News’ 20/20 that she is a transgender woman. This, of course, followed months of gross tabloid speculation and intrusion regarding Jenner's gender identity, from snarky, juvenile comments to paparazzi stalking the hills surrounding Jenner's Malibu pad. “For all intents and purposes, I am a woman,” the former Olympian told Sawyer. “My whole life has been getting me ready for this,” Jenner added. “It’s not just the last few years where they’ve been treating me as a joke.”
“I would always say I’ve always been very confused about my gender identity—since I was [a child],” Jenner said. “[Bruce] has been telling a lie his whole life about who he is, but I can’t do this any longer.”
It was a touching interview that moved millions tuning in. Cue Maher.“A lot of women in the news this week,” Maher said during his Real Time monologue, before discussing Hillary Clinton and Carly Fiorina vying for president. “Oh, another woman,” he continued under his breath. “Bruce Jenner.” Cue massive, stomach-churningly effusive audience laughter—which even caught Maher by surprise. “The big interview is tonight. I think it’s going on right now! Please, no spoilers. I TiVo’d it—which is ironic, because sometimes my TiVo also cuts things off.”
More applause. “Please! What I meant to say is he’s an inspiration—an inspiration to thousands of people who have male genes but wear mom jeans.”
