Bill Maher positively went off about the sexualization of minors in Hollywood and Elon Musk said his viral monologue was a “bullseye.”
In the latest episode of his eponymous HBO late night show, Maher explored the controversies surrounding child actors in the “Quiet on Set: The Dark Side of Kids” TV docuseries, highlighting the alleged exploitation at Nickelodeon during the 90s and 2000s.
Maher began his “New Rule” segment by stating that he’s not a fan of children but does think that it’s “every adult’s job to protect them.”
In response to the documentary, where Nickelodeon star Josh Bell admitted to being repeatedly sexual assaulted by network dialogue coach Brian Peck, Maher sniped that Nickelodeon “wasn’t a studio, it was Neverland Ranch with craft services.”
It turns out for pedophiles in Hollywood, "It's A Small World After All." pic.twitter.com/4qUtOhXZYL
— Bill Maher (@billmaher) April 20, 2024
“It is just scene after scene, clip after clip of the child stars of their day being subjected to obviously inappropriate, highly sexualized degradation,” he added.
The docuseries has become a hot topic in Hollywood, Maher noted, not only for uncovering a “dangerous workplace” but also for exposing “hypocrisy.”
He brought up Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis’s accusations against Disney for its alleged role in the sexualization of children, following then-CEO Bob Chapek public opposition to the so-called “Don’t Say Gay” law, which restricts schools from instructing children about sexual orientation and gender identity.
“[DeSantis] was saying the exact same thing about kids and creepy stuff at Disney—that liberals now find intolerable at Nickelodeon—he was dismissed as a hick and a bigot,” Maher commented.
“But why would a kid’s content factory like Disney be all that different than the one at Nickelodeon?”
He also mentioned a 2014 CNN report that disclosed at least 35 Disney employees had been arrested on charges related to child sex crimes.
Maher pointed toward remarks made by former Disney child actors, including Alyson Stoner, who said she “narrowly survived the toddler to trainwreck pipeline,” and Cole Sprouse’s statement to the New York Times in 2022 about how young leading ladies were “heavily sexualized” on set.
He also called out Disney for employing “Brian Peck — who was convicted of sexually assaulting a Nickelodeon child actor in 2004 – was hired by Disney to work on a children’s show after serving his time in prison for child sex crimes.”
“For pedophiles in Hollywood, it’s a small world after all,” Maher noted.
The “Real Time” host said that “DeSantis wasn’t wrong” about Disney and claimed that liberals are “so tribal” that the “left will support child f***ing if the wrong party calls it out.”
This month, DeSantis enacted five bills increasing penalties for child-related sexual offenses and intensifying the crackdown on the online grooming of minors.
Meanwhile, in California, Democrats hacked down a bill that would increase penalties for buying sex from minors, where it is currently only a misdemeanor offense.
Nickelodeon and Disney weren’t the only targets of Maher’s ire, he criticized “Instagram moms” for exploiting their daughters online to gain popularity, comparing it to “practically OnlyFans-ing” them.
He also took a shot at liberal-touted Drag Queen story hours for being more about inclusion than for the benefit of children.
“Not that there’s anything wrong with being a drag queen, but maybe it’s time to admit that sometimes drag queen story hour is more for the queen than the kids,” Maher said.
Recalling an event held in a Texas gay bar called “Drag the Kids to Pride,” he added, “When I see a 5-year-old tipping at a bar under a sign that says ‘It’s not going to lick itself,’ do I have to pretend that’s cool in order to keep my liberal ID card? Sorry, I can’t do that.”
Maher said that “wokeness” is no longer an “extension of liberalism,” and that it is more representative of “taking something so far that it becomes the opposite.”
“At a certain point, inclusion becomes promotion. And contrary to current progressive dogma, children aren’t miniature adults wise beyond their years — they’re morons,” he continued.
“That’s why endlessly talking about gender to 6-year-olds isn’t just inappropriate,” Maher concluded.
“It’s what the law would call ‘entrapment,’ which means enticing people into doing something they wouldn’t ordinarily do.”
Musk, who owns X, formerly Twitter, declared that the HBO host’s segment “hits the bullseye.”
“We all might disagree on many things politically, but everyone should agree with you on this,” conservative comedian Tim Young added.