Bill Maher says Chappell Roan is being thrown “off the roof” in Gaza

In a lengthy “New Rules” segment on Friday's “Real Time With Bill Maher,” talk show host Chappell took on Roan and addressed an open letter to the singer and her political statements.

“New rule to commemorate October 7th: We must launch a campaign to educate young Americans about the Middle East,” he began, describing his own version of the history of Israel and Palestine. He continued that Roan did not seem to understand that despite her support for Palestine, she would be put in danger in the Middle East. “Chappell, if you think growing up queer in the Midwest was oppressive, try the Middle East. You're a female drag queen and you sing, “I fucked you in the bathroom when we went to dinner at your parents' house.” That wouldn't fly in Gaza, although you would do it straight from a rooftop.”

While LGBTQ+ people in Palestine enjoy little legal protection and face discrimination, Maher's position echoes that of Israeli voices praising Israel for embracing gay rights (“pinkwashing”) while continuing to attack Gaza.

“You are not wrong when you say that oppression is a bad thing or that Palestinians and many other Muslim populations are oppressed and deserve to be released,” he said. “You just have completely wrong ideas about who is doing the oppression. “Hamas is a terrorist mafia that has taken over Gaza… Are you sure this is who you want to join forces with?”

Maher said it's understandable that young people may be misinformed given their level of education. “You don’t know much about history,” he said, describing himself as someone who didn’t learn history from TikTok.

He began the segment by explaining to his older viewers who the “Pink Pony Club” artist is. Chappell Roan is “not the name of one of Trump's golf courses – she's actually a great new recording artist who's really blowing up like a Hezbollah pager.” “In just a few months, she's gone from struggling artist to 3 billion plays Spotify developed – which makes her almost 11 cents,” joked Maher.

“When we come to Israel – and Chappell – we must put to the test your promise to think critically and question whether what you read on social media is true, because it is not. “There is a whole history of the Middle East that you and your fans have not heard of,” Maher claimed.

“I know you are moved when you see the dead Palestinian corpses, but it is strange that your generation did not seem nearly as moved by the Jewish corpses on October 7th. They killed at Coachella this year, but when Hamas kills at a music festival on October 7th, that's something completely different. Doesn’t the sight of so many young women being raped at a music festival make it a little more personal?” Maher wondered.

“You are championing a place and a culture you would never want to live under. Gender may not be binary, but right and wrong somehow is,” he concluded.

Roan sparked controversy a few weeks ago when he wrote on Tiktok: “I don't like what's going on with politics.” Fuck the policies on the right, but honestly, fuck some of the policies on the left . That's why I can't support it.” She later clarified that she would vote for Kamala Harris but would not support her.

Earlier this year, she declined an invitation to the White House Pride celebration, where she had considered reading a poem by Palestinian women to protest the U.S. government's support of Israel.

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