Bill Maher shares thought on ‘Barbie’s Oscar snub: ‘Not everybody gets prize’

Bill Maher discussed his thoughts on the Barbie Oscar nominations dispute in the first segment of Real Time’s 2019 season.

Following the audience’s applause as he took to the stage, the host said, “You can always sense the excitement at this time of year when you’re in L.A. because it’s Oscars week or something. … This is a big part of the town, industry and everything. So we get very excited.”

The 2024 Oscar nominations were revealed on Tuesday, Maher continued. Barbie had eight nods, including Best Picture, but Margot Robbie and Greta Gerwig were not selected for Best Leading Actress and Best Director, respectively.

“The matter has been handed over to the International Criminal Court and is being investigated for a war,” the host quipped about the matter.

Barbie enthusiasts and a few celebrities, like Ryan Gosling and Michelle Yeoh, have been expressing their displeasure with the Academy’s voting for the past few days over Gerwig and Robbie’s exclusion from those two categories. particularly considering that Gosling, who portrayed Ken in the film, was nominated for best-supporting actor.

Maher is the most recent celebrity to challenge the fervor on the internet on the omissions.

“I don’t know why this is such a giant controversy now,” he said. “I mean, best actress. That’s the category, you know, she [Robbie] lost to other actresses. It’s not like they gave her slot to Vin Diesel. Is this really the patriarchy?”

Maher questioned guests Rep. Adam Schiff and Seth MacFarlane later in the show if they believed that America is a patriarchal society as a result of the Barbie snubs.

“I don’t think you can judge that from Barbie not getting nominated,” Schiff said in response.