‘That’s our word, and you can’t have it back’: Ice Cube confronts Bill Maher for using the n-word – Washington Post

Rapper Ice Cube was a panelist on "Real Time" a week after Bill Maher used the n-word on the show. Here's what Ice Cube had to say, plus how other entertainers viewed the controversy. (Nicki DeMarco/The Washington Post)

A week after Bill Maher used the n-word on Real Time, Fridays episode of his HBO show focused largely on a discussion of race, with black personalities essentially lecturing the comedian on why what he had done was unacceptable.

I want you to school me. I did a bad thing, he told Georgetown University professor Michael Eric Dyson, adding later: For black folks, that word I dont care who you are has caused pain. Im not here to do that It doesnt matter that it wasnt said in malice; it wasnt. It brought back pain to people.

For several minutes, Maher was on the hot seat and on the receiving end of questions. Actor-rapper Ice Cube didnt seem to hold back, telling Maher that he and white people shouldnt get too comfortable with saying the n-word, even if done without a hint of racism. He also said that he felt the comedian has been bucking up against that line, and that last weeks mistake was a teachable moment for Maher.

What made you think that it was cool to say that? Ice Cube asked.

Maher repeated his apology and said that he simply reacted, without thinking, to a comment by Sen. Ben Sasse (R-Neb.) about working in the fields.

[Bill Maher says he is very sorry for using a racial slur on his HBO show]

Though he accepted theapology, Ice Cube dished out many reasons he felt Mahers behavior was so problematic.He said, in part:

I still think you need to get to the root of the psyche because I think theres a lot of guys out there who cross the line because theyre a little too familiar, or they think theyre too familiar. Or, guys that, you know, might have a black girlfriend or two that made them Kool-Aid every now and then, and then they think they can cross the line. And they cant. You know, its a word that has been used against us. Its like a knife, man. You can use it as a weapon or you can use it as a tool. Its when you use it as a weapon against us, by white people, and were not going to let that happened again because its not cool Thats our word, and you cant have it back.

Its not cool because when I hear my homie say it, it dont feel like venom. When I hear a white person say it, it feel like that knife stabbing you, even if they dont mean to.

The longtime HBO host drew widespread criticism last week after using the racial slur during an exchange with Sasse on his show. The senator invited Maher to visit Nebraska and said, Wed love to have you work in the fields with us.

Work in the fields? Senator, Im a house n, Maher said in response. No, its its a joke.

HBO late-night host Bill Maher was under fire this week for using a racial slur on his show. Here are some other occasions where he has faced criticism for his jokes. (Elyse Samuels/The Washington Post)

He apologized in a brief statement the following day, saying the word was offensive and that he was very sorry. The backlash was immediate, with HBO also condemning the use of the word and with some calling for Mahers firing.

[Maher, Griffin, Colbert: Anti-Trump comedians are having a really bad moment]

Dyson, the professor and a friend of Mahers whos come to his defense on social media, asked the comedian about white privilege and whether he understands the need to challenge the unconscious reflex to say the racial slur evenunintentionally.

Yeah, but of course, I think I do. Were all evolving. Were all who were are This happened once. A guy said a weird thing; I made a bad joke, Maher said of the comment from Sasse that prompted the controversial response. It was wrong, and I owned up to that. But its not like a career of this. Its not like I went out there last Friday and I said, Oh, Im going to break some new ground tonight.

Maher added: You know, it happened and it was wrong, and people make mistakes and were all sinners But I totally get that I grew up in an all-white town in New Jersey, not Alabama thats the country Race wasnt even an issue. It didnt exist, except my parents told me the right thing about it

Symone Sanders, a Democratic strategist and former press secretary for Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), criticized Maher for using the term house n, saying it was an affront to black women.

As a white person in America, you wouldve been the master, the slave owner It was mostly black women who were enslaved in the house, who were raped, who were beaten daily, day in and day out, Sanders said. They endured physical and mental abuse. For a lot of people in America, that was like slap in the face to the black community, particularly to black women.

Maher, whos on his 15th season of hosting Real Time, has been known to say or do controversial things on his show.

[Ann Coulter finds an unlikely ally in her free-speech spat with Berkeley: Bill Maher]

He drew criticism earlier this yearwhenhe interviewed Milo Yiannopoulos,the controversial former Breitbart editor known for making inflammatory comments about Muslims, women and minorities. Maher had defended his decision, saying inviting Yiannopoulos on his show brought his views under scrutiny, according to the Los Angeles Times.

In 2014, Maher was accused of hate speech when he said it was wrong to say only a few bad apples in the Muslim community have extremist beliefs.

Islam is the only religion that acts like the mafia, that will f kill you if you say the wrong thing, draw the wrong picture, or write the wrong book, Maher said during an episode on Real Time with atheist scholar Sam Harris and actor Ben Affleck.

In 2001, Maher lost his ABC show, Politically Incorrect, following controversial commentscriticizing military action to the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks.

We have been the cowards lobbing cruise missiles from 2,000 miles away. Thats cowardly, he said.

Maher apologized after his comments prompted companies to pull their ads. He said he was criticizing the government, not individual soldiers.ABC fired Maher afterward.

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'That's our word, and you can't have it back': Ice Cube confronts Bill Maher for using the n-word - Washington Post