Billy Joel tells Bill Maher he's over what ‘woke' people think of him and his music
During the latest episode of Maher's 'Club Random' podcast released Monday, the two discussed the 'woke' left's reaction to anything it disagrees with, with Joel admitting he is over being concerned about what that group thinks of him.
Advertisement
'At this point… I'm inured to it,' Joel said in reply to Maher asking if he doesn't care if woke people criticize him any longer.
Maher brought up woke outrage while talking to Joel about his 1976 song, 'Angry Young Man.'
In the song, Joel sings, 'I believe I've passed the age, of consciousness and righteous rage, I found that just surviving was a noble fight. I once believed in causes too, I had my pointless point of view, and life went on no matter who was wrong or right.'
4 During an episode of Maher's 'Club Random' podcast, the two discussed the 'woke' left's reaction to anything it disagrees with.
Getty Images
Advertisement
With help from Joel, Maher recited the lyrics and commented, 'I feel like that is the message of the age, even though some people will hear that and say, 'Look at these two a——-!''
'Boomers,' Joel chimed in, mocking an insult often lobbed online at older generations.
The host continued, noting how mad leftists get when people don't declare, ''Trump's the worst.''
4 Maher brought up woke outrage while talking to Joel about his 1976 song, 'Angry Young Man.'
Youtube / Club Random w/ Bill Maher
Advertisement
The HBO host then brought up Joel's Vietnam War-era song, 'Goodnight Saigon' and its lyrics, 'And who was wrong? And who was right? It didn't matter in the thick of the fight.'
'Do you still feel that way?' he asked the singer, regarding the lyrics.
'Yes,' he replied.
'And you don't care what they say about you – the woke?' Maher asked.
Advertisement
4 The host continued, noting how mad leftists get when people don't declare, ''Trump's the worst.''
Youtube / Club Random w/ Bill Maher
'At this point, no,' the musician replied, though he noted how he tries to understand the point of view of people who disagree with him.
'On the other hand, I'm always trying to find out the other point of view. What's, you know, not my point of view – somebody else's point of view. Okay, I'd like to understand why they think that way.'
'It's so difficult in this day and age,' Maher replied.
4 'At this point, no,' the musician replied, though he noted how he tries to understand the point of view of people who disagree with him.
Youtube / Club Random w/ Bill Maher
Maher continued, 'I mean it is what I am always trying to do on my show. It is, look, this is one safe space for everybody and I will take the heat from either – both sides. I mean I do feel like the left, who, ironically I'm more actually aligned with, is more snippy about it, and has a worse attitude about it, and makes me viscerally not like them more sometimes.'
Elsewhere, the two discussed how social media makes political outrage worse.
Advertisement
'People say things all the time on [social media] they would never say, if they had to say it to your face,' Maher said.
'It just always surprises me how people, they express this hatred,' Joel responded. 'It's like, you hate a musician because he wrote something?'
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
USA Today
9 minutes ago
- USA Today
David Letterman calls Paramount 'gutless' for canceling Stephen Colbert's 'Late Show'
David Letterman, who hosted "The Late Show" from 1993 to 2015, joked that his predecessor, Stephen Colbert, is a "martyr" and questioned the motivations for canceling the CBS show. David Letterman is questioning the motivations behind the shock cancellation of his former CBS home, "The Late Show." Speaking with former "Late Night with David Letterman" colleagues Barbara Gaines and Mary Barclay in a July 25 clip from "The Barbara Gaines Show" on Letterman's YouTube channel, the 78-year-old comedian did not hold back. He threw barbs at CBS parent company Paramount Global and David Ellison, who's slated to become CEO after Paramount merges with his Skydance Media in an $8.4 billion deal. "It's all very strange. It's very complicated, but it was a bit of a surprise, wasn't it?" Letterman said. As the 14-minute Zoom conversation continued, he eventually called Paramount pulling the plug on Stephen Colbert's show "pure cowardice" and "gutless." Letterman hosted the show from 1993 until 2015, at which point Colbert took over post-"Colbert Report." After Colbert announced on July 17 that "The Late Show" would be ending in May after more than 30 years, Paramount released a statement that called the move "purely a financial decision against a challenging backdrop in late night." The media company also maintained: "It is not related in any way to the show's performance, content, or other matters happening at Paramount." While Colbert's show is the top rated at 11:30 p.m. ET/PT, it was losing a reported $40 million a year. David Letterman blasts explanation that 'Late Show' was canceled for financial reasons Letterman speculated that Paramount is capitulating to Ellison, who might not "want any trouble from that guy," referring to Colbert, long known for his political satire and criticism of President Donald Trump. "Not only are we going to get rid of that guy, we're going to get rid of the whole franchise so you don't have to worry about another guy," Letterman said in an impersonation of Paramount executives. "It's gone, buddy!" "I think it's sad, but what this indicates also is (Ellison doesn't) want any trouble along the lines of freedom of the press or free speech or freedom of expression," Letterman surmised. "They don't want to get their hands dirty; they don't want the government going after them." He also cast doubt on the explanation that the "Late Show" cancellation was "purely a financial decision." "I don't think it was money. I think it was all to make sure (Ellison was) solid spending dad's (Larry Ellison's) money," he said. "You're telling me losing this kind of money happened yesterday?" he said. "I bet they were losing this kind of money a month ago. I'll bet they were losing this kind of money six weeks ago, or they have never been losing money. "Take a look at the CBS News. It's still in business, and I'm not certain that that's a profit center," he continued. What Letterman said before: The ex-host's subtle jab at CBS amid Colbert 'Late Show' cancellation 'We've all got to kiss Stephen Colbert's ring' Letterman, who was complimentary of Colbert and the work he's done since taking over Letterman's show, went on to excoriate Paramount's treatment of its star talent. "They did not do the correct thing. They did not handle Stephen Colbert, the face of that network, in the way he deserves to have been handled," he said. Letterman went on to declare that those who decided the fate of "The Late Show" would regret the move. "One day, if not today, the people at CBS who have manipulated and handled this are going to be embarrassed because this is gutless," Letterman said. "Now we've all got to kiss Stephen Colbert's ring now," he added, joking that he's a "martyr" for his firing.
New York Times
10 minutes ago
- New York Times
‘Billy Joel: And So It Goes:' 5 Takeaways From the Film's Conclusion
The second part of the sprawling documentary 'Billy Joel: And So It Goes' ends before the musician's recent announcement that he has the brain disorder normal pressure hydrocephalus. That is to say, if you're looking for an update on Joel's health, the film by Susan Lacy and Jessica Levin, which HBO aired on Friday night (and is streaming on HBO Max), does not provide one. But Joel, in a podcast interview with Bill Maher earlier this week, is seen playing the piano. 'It's not fixed,' he said of his condition, but it's 'being worked on,' and he assured fans: 'I feel good.' 'They keep referring to what I have as a brain disorder, so it sounds a lot worse than what I'm feeling,' he added, likening the sensation to being on a boat with poor balance. While the first half of the film, which premiered in June at the Tribeca Festival, focused on the little-told story of how Joel's relationship with his first wife, Elizabeth Weber, shaped the early days of his career, the second covers more familiar territory. Starting with the production of 'The Nylon Curtain' in 1982, it chronicles his much discussed marriages to Christie Brinkley and Katie Lee Biegel, his well-documented struggles with alcohol, the betrayal of his manager Frank Weber, his decision to retire from the road and eventual return to live performance following the '12-12-12' benefit concert for Hurricane Sandy relief. And still, the nearly two-and-a-half-hour exploration of his life and career makes time to delve into his complicated relationship with his father, Howard, as well as his retreat from producing new pop music and the influence of classical compositions on his work. Here are five takeaways. The Holocaust looms large in Joel's family history. Joel's Jewish identity comes into play heavily during the second part of the documentary, specifically with regard to his fraught relationship with his father, Howard Joel. He describes how in his mid-20s he discovered that his paternal grandfather, Karl Joel, had a textile factory in Nuremberg. The family lived next to the park where the Nuremberg rallies were held and Joel speculates about the trauma his father must have endured watching those unfold as a young Jewish boy. Joel's grandfather was targeted by Nazi propaganda newspaper Der Stürmer and was forced to sell his business, though he was never paid. The Joels escaped Germany over the Swiss border and the factory was ultimately used to manufacture the striped uniforms for prisoners in concentration camps. Want all of The Times? Subscribe.
USA Today
2 hours ago
- USA Today
In 'Keeper,' Osgood Perkins mines the 'discomfort' of relationship horror
SAN DIEGO – Osgood Perkins is embracing the horror of romance. The director of 'Longlegs' and 'The Monkey' is back again with another scary movie, 'Keeper,' a cabin-in-the-woods thriller he previewed at the pop-culture festival Comic-Con. The presentation was part of Neon's "Next Wave of Horror" panel on Friday, July 25, an event that also featured 'Together' stars Alison Brie and Dave Franco and 'Shelby Oaks' filmmaker Chris Stuckmann. 'Keeper' (in theaters Nov. 14) centers on a couple, Liz (Tatiana Maslany) and Malcolm (Rossif Sutherland), who go to his secluded cabin for their anniversary and end up being haunted by the place's freaky past. 'Things get real, real, real weird,' Perkins said. He debuted a new trailer that showed strangeness from both lovers' perspectives. Join our Watch Party! Sign up to receive USA TODAY's movie and TV recommendations right in your inbox With relationship horror, 'a lot of the fear and the discomfort comes from 'Where am I, am I safe here, do I know this person I'm in love with?' ' Maslany said. Plus, 'we did some fun classic running and screaming.' Perkins revealed that 'Keeper' is about how he's been a jerk in his own relationships. 'Honestly, ladies and guys, we mean to do well, but sometimes we just suck,' he said. 'And I've sucked with the best of them.' He gave a shoutout to 'Together' (in theaters July 30), which explores the codependence of a couple (Brie and Franco) in eerie ways. 'But where (their movie) is very physical in a beautiful way, ('Keeper') is more mental and emotional. I guess we're all trying to do the same thing, which is that relationships kill you.' Stuckman, a YouTube film critic turned filmmaker, also premiered a trailer for his directorial debut 'Shelby Oaks' (Oct. 3). Camille Sullivan plays a woman seeking her missing sister in a narrative that involves a found-footage tape and a very bloody incident. Sullivan 'is one of those amazing people who's a secret weapon.' Perkins began the panel by paying tribute to the marginalized voices of the LGBTQ community and his father, 'Psycho' icon Anthony Perkins. He was 'a queer man not allowed to be a queer man in society or his business,' Osgood Perkins said. 'His voice was not amplified.' To honor his and the community's struggles, Perkins led the crowd as everyone did Bernard Herrman's infamous 'Psycho' knife sounds.
