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

As Bill Maher tries to appeal to Generation Z, he's recycling some particularly outdated talking points.

On Friday's episode of Real Time with Bill MaherComedian Chappell used Roan's recent political statements to educate the “Pink Pony Club” artist and her fans about the Israel-Hamas war.

“As we mark the anniversary of October 7th, we must launch a campaign to educate young Americans about the Middle East,” Maher said. “And I would like to begin this process by addressing an open letter to Chappell Roan. Now let me explain to the viewers who are not watching this and looking at their phones at the same time. … She’s actually a great new recording artist who’s really blowing up like a Hezbollah pager.”

Although Maher praised Roan for criticizing both sides of the political spectrum, he attributed her perceived support for Palestine to TikTok's “propaganda.”

“Chappell, if you think growing up queer in the Midwest was oppressive, try growing up in the Middle East,” he mused. “You're a female drag queen and you sing, 'I fucked you in the bathroom when we went to dinner, your parents at the table.' Yes, that wouldn't fly in Gaza. Although You would, straight from the roof. Same with “Knee deep in the passenger seat and you're eating me up.” Yeah, I guess the moral police would figure out it's not about passage and kill your ass with the feather boa. You know when you sing, “LA is the place where boys and girls can be queens every day”? You're welcome, but the offer in the West Bank is not good.

“Chappell, you are not wrong when you say that oppression is a bad thing, or that the Palestinian and many other Muslim populations are oppressed and deserve to be released. You just don't know who is doing the repression. Hamas is a terrorist mafia that has taken over Gaza…they are the oppressors. And when it's all about Israel, take the pressure off them. You activate them,” Maher said.

Maher's comments about Roan being thrown “off a roof” in Gaza reflect a common narrative known as “pinkwashing,” the practice of supporting Israel's LGBTQ progress to distract from ongoing violence and oppression against Palestinians.

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

Although Roan has kept her political stance largely secret, she previously said Rolling Stone She planned to read “Poems by Palestinian Women” when she was invited to the White House, but her publicist advised her against it.

Since the attack on Israel on October 7, 2023, in which Hamas took more than 250 hostages and killed around 1,200 people, more than 42,000 Palestinians have been killed and nearly 2 million displaced in the ongoing Israel-Hamas war.