Bill Maher Says It’s Time to Move on From Oscars Diversity Complaints: ‘Take the Win’ | Video

Bill Maher suggested it was time to move on from diversity complaints surrounding the Oscars, telling the #OscarsSoWhite movement to “take the win.”

During Friday’s episode of “Real Time With Bill Maher,” the comedian sounded off on the decade-long social media campaign, which launched as a watchdog for diversity in Hollywood. Specifically, amid his “New Rule” segment, Maher joked that progressives should wear “We Won” ribbons just to remind attendees that “progress is what [they’re] selling.”

“Take the win. The Oscars are no longer a long, boring show full of white people,” Maher said. “It’s a long, boring show full of all people.”

As Maher went on, he called out the diverse group of winners from years past, including “Everything Everywhere All at Once,” “Green Book,” “Parasite,” “CODA,” “Shape of Water” and “Moonlight.” He also shouted out “Nomadland,” joking that it “might be about Somalia, but no one has seen it.”

He also highlighted the acting wins by prominent performers of color, including Will Smith, Zoe Saldaña, Michelle Yeoh, Da’Vine Joy Randolph, Ke Huy Quan and more.

“Eight of the last 10 best director prizes have been won by underrepresented groups, not to mention 60% of the honorary awards,” Maher noted. “You can’t argue with a straight face — or even a gay face — that the Academy in 2026 still overlooks minority achievement or that Hollywood is biased in favor of all white people — just Australians.”

Maher argued that Academy voters were not voting for nominees just because they were white, quipping, “Hollywood isn’t a secret cabal of racists. It’s a secret cabal of people terrified of looking like racists.”

“And I’m just tired of no matter how much progress is made, social justice warriors feeling the need to gaslight us as if none of it had happened,” he said. “Couple of years ago, the Academy established a very complex rulebook that said you couldn’t even be considered for best picture unless you met certain criteria like, 30% of the crew or two department heads had to be from underrepresented groups and a main story line had to be as well.”

According to Maher, by this standard, legendary films like “Titanic,” “Braveheart,” “Amadeus” or “Apollo 13” couldn’t get made today and hope to be nominated.

“The whole thing is so Hollywood,” Maher bemoaned. “A room full of no nothings who call themselves the Academy, making everyone tremble before their judgment, even though their judgment is often terrible and fails the test of time. Maybe the hashtag should be #OscarsSoWrong.”

Watch Maher’s full commentary above.

New episodes of “Real Time With Bill Maher” air Fridays at 10 p.m. ET on HBO.

The post Bill Maher Says It’s Time to Move on From Oscars Diversity Complaints: ‘Take the Win’ | Video appeared first on TheWrap.