'We May Never Talk Again': Bill Maher Says 'Nice' Jimmy Kimmel Is 'Very Mad at Me' as Feud Explodes

Bill Maher is opening up about his feud with Jimmy Kimmel.

On a recent episode of the “Club Random” podcast, Maher told Adam Carolla that things between him and Kimmel are tense. Carolla and Kimmel used to co-host The Man Show on Comedy Central from 1999 to 2004.

“Jimmy Kimmel, you know, he’s very mad at me and I know you’re close to him,” Maher told Carolla. “I hope you tell him that I’m sorry that it got bent out of shape. I don’t think I did anything wrong. We can have disagreements. I mean, you and I don’t agree on everything, look at this clash now, and yet we’re cool.”

“The Republicans are always this sort of difference between the right and the left. It bugs me so much,” he said. “My tribe is supposed to be the left, but these are the people who just can’t talk to you unless you’re exactly there, whereas the Republicans, they always f------- come to my show. John Kennedy from Louisiana was on last week, took his beating like a man, like they all do, and we came across lovingly and smilingly and happily and we can disagree.”

Maher described Kimmel as “one of the nicest guys,” but said he won’t follow the traditional late-night rules when it comes to political humor. Maher said he targets both parties and doesn’t sugarcoat his jokes.

“I don’t just buy into the left-wing bullshit, and I never stop making fun of the right-wing bulls--- at all!” Maher said. “And like, if that’s not good enough for you, then I think you’re the a-------, and I don’t think Jimmy is an a-------… I think he’s a great guy, and it bugs me that, you know, because of what the latest thing was, that, you know, we may never talk again.”

While Maher didn’t reveal exactly why Kimmel is upset, it seems connected to a November 2025 Real Time episode. Maher criticized Kimmel’s wife, Molly McNearney, for publicly saying she cut ties with Trump-supporting family members.

"[McNearney] went public on this topic recently, so I feel it's fair to comment, respectfully, in public. She says she's lost relationships with relatives because she wrote them an email before the election with ten reasons why they shouldn't vote for Trump, and some still didn't obey, so you know," Maher said while making a neck-slicing gesture.

"Ten reasons? I can think of 100. But I would never present it to someone as an ultimatum," the comedian added. "Ultimatums don't make people rethink their politics. They make them rethink you."

Maher also noted how some people have turned their “values” into a moral monopoly. He argued that people like McNearney are partly why former Vice President Kamala Harris lost the 2024 election.

"Write a top ten list to yourself where you try to imagine ten reasons why 77 million Americans didn't want to trust you with taking power, and I say that as someone who votes Democratic. As I like to remind my very pure friends, we voted for the same person. You're just why she lost," Maher explained.