Ice Cube, Symone Sanders and Michael Eric Dyson Will Hopefully School Bill Maher On First Show After N-Word Controversy

On Friday, Bill Maher was dragged for filth on the Internet after he referred to himself as a “house n****r” while talking to Nebraska Senator Ben Sasse on his show, Real Time with Bill Maher.

Al Sharpton, Chance the Rapper, Black Twitter and plenty of others were outraged and even called for Maher to be fired for his offensive comment.

Although a few have dropped out of their upcoming appearances on Maher’s show, it was announced that Ice Cube is planning to keep his previously scheduled appearance this Friday. 

In a statement, Ice Cube’s spokesperson said, “Ice Cube will still appear on Bill Maher this Friday as scheduled to talk about the release of Death Certificate: 25th Anniversary edition, an album that was recorded in the wake of the Rodney King beating in 1991, which sadly, speaks to many of the same race issues that we as a society are still dealing with today.”

HBO also apologized on behalf of Maher with the following statement: “Bill Maher’s comment last night was completely inexcusable and tasteless. We are removing his deeply offensive comment from any subsequent airings of the show.”

Many speculate that Ice Cube’s reason for still doing the show will be to address the controversy of last week’s episode. After Senator Al Franken canceled his appearance on Maher’s show, HBO announced that professor and author Michael Eric Dyson will replace Franken as a guest on Friday’s show. Activist and former national press secretary for Democratic presidential candidate Bernie Sanders, Symone Sanders, will also join the conversation.

“I am still planning on doing the show Friday,” Sanders told the Huffington Post in a email this week. “I thought Maher’s comment, Ben Sasse’s reaction and the crowd’s applause were all equally distasteful, inappropriate and offensive. I am glad Maher too recognized as such and issued an apology.”

We can only hope that Ice Cube, Sanders and Dyson will be able to help Maher truly understand his wrongdoing, and possibly inspire the viewing audience’s future words and actions.