Bill Maher's comments on obesity leaves the internet divided × Follow Us Create Notifications New User posted their first comment this is comment text Link Approve Reject & ban Delete Log in Manage your profile Editing Story Queue Video Queue Editing Stats Writer Home SEO Redirection Admin Gaming Wiki Edits Taxonomy Home Edit Site Menu Mapping Dashboard Tag Pages Community Social Feed Queue Feed Center Notification Center Affiliate Home Manage Pages Bottom Tagline Dash Timeless Stories Logout SK POP Feature Reality is quite different Bill Maher s comments on obesity leaves the internet divided By Abhirup Sengupta Modified 08 Aug 2022 Follow Us Comment Share Maher's segment on obesity on Friday's show (Image via Real Time with Bill Maher/YouTube) On Friday, August 5, comedian and HBO’s Real Time talk show host Bill Maher slammed USA’s fat acceptance movement. Later, the TV personality took to his Twitter account and referred to the issue as a “disturbing trend.” He uploaded the entire segment of his show, where he rallied against the movement, and in the post’s caption, Maher said: “There’s a disturbing trend going on in America these days with rewriting science to fit ideology. We’ve gone from fat acceptance to fat celebration.” Bill Maher@billmaherThere’s a disturbing trend going on in America these days with rewriting science to fit ideology. We’ve gone from fat acceptance to fat celebration.340326972There’s a disturbing trend going on in America these days with rewriting science to fit ideology. We’ve gone from fat acceptance to fat celebration. https://t.co/r0zmqtamUl The 66-year-old political commentator further said how the issue has escalated to being a national security threat. He cited a 2019 New York Times article that stated how one-third of the applicants were rejected from military recruitment for being overweight. However, Maher’s comments have received a lot of criticism since the show's live telecast. One such tweet (from user Ronnie Toddywala/@ironman1125) called out the host for being inconsiderate of people suffering from obesity. The tweet mentioned: “Reality is quite different. Obesity is a function of genes, stress and poverty too not only excessive eating.” Ronnie Toddywala@ironman1125@billmaher Easy to pontificate when you live a luxurious Hollywood lifestyle. Reality is quite different. Obesity is a function of genes, stress and poverty too not only excessive eating.381@billmaher Easy to pontificate when you live a luxurious Hollywood lifestyle. Reality is quite different. Obesity is a function of genes, stress and poverty too not only excessive eating. What did Bill Maher say about the USA s obesity issue In the monologue, Bill Maher cited a New York Times piece from 2019 and said: “Military recruitment is down by the most since the end of the draft, because mainly 17 to 24 year olds are too fat to fight.” Maher further proceeded to label the fat acceptance movement as ‘Orwellian’. He insinuated that the positivity behind such a movement encourages and describes “what's not healthy”. The host made another analogy and told his audience that people “can get away with anything bad (in regards to health).” Moments later, Maher questioned whether they had ever seen a 90-year-old fat person, to further prove his point. He said: “We’ve gone from fat acceptance to fat celebration. That’s new. That is new. To view letting yourself go as a point of pride? We used to at least try and be fit and healthy and society praised those who succeeded. Now the term body positivity is used to mean, ‘I’m perfect the way I am because I’m me.’ It’s Orwellian how often positivity is used to describe what’s not healthy!” He further said: “And if you're in any way participating in this joyful celebration of gluttony that goes on now, you have blood on your hands, full stop...You can make believe you're fighting some great social justice battle for a besieged minority, but what you're really doing is enabling addicts — which I thought we decided was bad.” He later recalled several health disorders caused by obesity, which included the likes of heart disease, stroke, diabetes, cancer, and more. Bill Maher stated that obesity “is horrible for the immune system.” Netizens react to Bill Maher s comments on obesity While a legion of tweets supported Maher and defended the host for his statements, other sections of the internet criticized how he expressed his opinion about the US population's obesity issue. Matt Taibbi@mtaibbi@Worldliness_1 @RealTimers @billmaher @davidduchovny @Lis_Smith @HBO @hbomax The segment wasn’t about blaming people for being obese, it was about the insanity of trying to address the issue by saying obesity is beautiful and not a problem, when it kills you.1123@Worldliness_1 @RealTimers @billmaher @davidduchovny @Lis_Smith @HBO @hbomax The segment wasn’t about blaming people for being obese, it was about the insanity of trying to address the issue by saying obesity is beautiful and not a problem, when it kills you. Adam.J.Ellsworth@AdamJEllsworthYes I'm fat. Yes I believe the nation needs to work on its health. But @billmaher should change his special from Adulting to Hypocrating. Imagine doing an entire piece on my health decisions are up to me and turning around to do a 10min piece on obesity2Yes I'm fat. Yes I believe the nation needs to work on its health. But @billmaher should change his special from Adulting to Hypocrating. Imagine doing an entire piece on my health decisions are up to me and turning around to do a 10min piece on obesity Brianna Wu@BriannaWuBill Maher and Ben Shapiro have the same playbook. They say things they know will piss off the left and ride the attention to a fat payday. If one were truly interested in addressing obesity, they would talk about how insanely expensive it is to eat healthy food in America. twitter.com/billmaher/stat…Bill Maher@billmaherThere’s a disturbing trend going on in America these days with rewriting science to fit ideology. We’ve gone from fat acceptance to fat celebration.58060There’s a disturbing trend going on in America these days with rewriting science to fit ideology. We’ve gone from fat acceptance to fat celebration. https://t.co/r0zmqtamUlBill Maher and Ben Shapiro have the same playbook. They say things they know will piss off the left and ride the attention to a fat payday. If one were truly interested in addressing obesity, they would talk about how insanely expensive it is to eat healthy food in America. twitter.com/billmaher/stat… Dr. Daniel J. Winarick@DrWinarickBill Maher’s take on obesity is much needed albeit overly intense & extreme in rhetoric.3Bill Maher’s take on obesity is much needed albeit overly intense & extreme in rhetoric. LSAida@LASeigelWhy is Bill Maher so obsessed with obesity?13Why is Bill Maher so obsessed with obesity? Innoculant@Innoculant1So watching Bill Maher contradict himself during his show is quite something. At the beginning he’s talking about wanting to believe what he wants with regard COVID, then bookends his show with the SCIENCE of obesity. You can’t pick and choose, but Bill can. PRAT!13615So watching Bill Maher contradict himself during his show is quite something. At the beginning he’s talking about wanting to believe what he wants with regard COVID, then bookends his show with the SCIENCE of obesity. You can’t pick and choose, but Bill can. PRAT! Ashley Battista@ashAbeez@billmaher Medical student here. They really don’t know what causes obesity and how weight loss works. Anecdotally, I got sick and gained 25lbs 1 yr, so I tracked everything I ate w an app. Did high intensity exercise 3x/wk. couldn’t lose wt. Then I got even sicker and lost 50lbs w/o trying2776@billmaher Medical student here. They really don’t know what causes obesity and how weight loss works. Anecdotally, I got sick and gained 25lbs 1 yr, so I tracked everything I ate w an app. Did high intensity exercise 3x/wk. couldn’t lose wt. Then I got even sicker and lost 50lbs w/o trying Megatron they/them@ModelMegatronBill Maher's recent New Rule segment on obesity assumes that the reason for obesity is wanting to "eat donuts" and that body positivity is enabling addictive behaviour. Not only is this factually inaccurate, it is also cruel.233Bill Maher's recent New Rule segment on obesity assumes that the reason for obesity is wanting to "eat donuts" and that body positivity is enabling addictive behaviour. Not only is this factually inaccurate, it is also cruel. Larry J. Miller@larjmil1@billmaher Bill, being a Harvard grad you should know processed food, corn syrup additives and frozen wages and incomes did not impact the American populous until Ronny Reagan’s trickle-down theory started our obesity & growing poverty - the reason we’re in the shape were in, get it ?853@billmaher Bill, being a Harvard grad you should know processed food, corn syrup additives and frozen wages and incomes did not impact the American populous until Ronny Reagan’s trickle-down theory started our obesity & growing poverty - the reason we’re in the shape were in, get it ? Sam E. Antar@SamAntarBill Maher hits it out of the ballpark talking about obesity. In my case, I lost 40 pounds walking 10 miles a day and watching my diet. twitter.com/billmaher/stat…Bill Maher@billmaherThere’s a disturbing trend going on in America these days with rewriting science to fit ideology. We’ve gone from fat acceptance to fat celebration.658There’s a disturbing trend going on in America these days with rewriting science to fit ideology. We’ve gone from fat acceptance to fat celebration. https://t.co/r0zmqtamUlBill Maher hits it out of the ballpark talking about obesity. In my case, I lost 40 pounds walking 10 miles a day and watching my diet. twitter.com/billmaher/stat… Dino@AgeWithRage@RealTimers @billmaher @davidduchovny @mtaibbi @Lis_Smith @HBO @hbomax How can you sit there one minute saying you don’t want anyone to dictate to you about “Your Health” then turnaround ridicule people about their weight? Millennials, Mask Mandates, Cancel Culture and Obesity almost every week? Need new material?39842@RealTimers @billmaher @davidduchovny @mtaibbi @Lis_Smith @HBO @hbomax How can you sit there one minute saying you don’t want anyone to dictate to you about “Your Health” then turnaround ridicule people about their weight? Millennials, Mask Mandates, Cancel Culture and Obesity almost every week? Need new material? ???? ??????@AldoBarkeeperBill Maher did another of his fat shaming new rules bits last night. Again, he ignored the food industry being the main cause in our obesity epidemic twitter.com/billmaher/stat…Bill Maher@billmaherThere’s a disturbing trend going on in America these days with rewriting science to fit ideology. We’ve gone from fat acceptance to fat celebration.323There’s a disturbing trend going on in America these days with rewriting science to fit ideology. We’ve gone from fat acceptance to fat celebration. https://t.co/r0zmqtamUlBill Maher did another of his fat shaming new rules bits last night. Again, he ignored the food industry being the main cause in our obesity epidemic twitter.com/billmaher/stat… John Platt@Plattman77@billmaher You’re right Bill. Obesity is a problem in the US. It’s a consequence of capitalism that has made it difficult for poor people to eat healthy. Fresh and/or organic produce is either unavailable or extremely expensive. Kids barely have access to food at school, which is usually201@billmaher You’re right Bill. Obesity is a problem in the US. It’s a consequence of capitalism that has made it difficult for poor people to eat healthy. Fresh and/or organic produce is either unavailable or extremely expensive. Kids barely have access to food at school, which is usually Police Author Jim Geeting@retiredtroopI gotta give it to @billmaher. He called out obesity; not the obese but those who enable and glorify this very unhealthy lifestyle and refuse to acknowledge all it affects. He identified it as the national security issue it is.Kids are too fat to join the military today.22I gotta give it to @billmaher. He called out obesity; not the obese but those who enable and glorify this very unhealthy lifestyle and refuse to acknowledge all it affects. He identified it as the national security issue it is.Kids are too fat to join the military today. Most other tweets attempted to clarify that Bill Maher’s monologue did not slam obese people but rather criticized the acceptance of obesity which, according to him, is harmful. While Bill Maher’s statements are being debated, it must be noted that obesity is a rising health care issue in the USA. As per the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), 36.5 percent of US adults are obese. Meanwhile, the National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases states that 32.5 percent of adults are overweight. Poll : 0 votes Quick Links More from Sportskeeda Edited by Shreya Das × Feedback Thank You! 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