Bill Maher has responded to the wide outrage from comic book fans which was prompted by comments he made last weekend in the wake of Stan Lee’s death.
The Real Time host published an essay last Friday (November 16) titled ‘Adulting’ in which he addressed the recent passing of the former Marvel President, writing: “America is in mourning. Deep, deep mourning for a man who inspired millions to, I don’t know, watch a movie, I guess.”
Maher’s blog was met with anger by many comic fans, while Lee’s production company POW! Entertainment slammed the talk show host’s comments as “frankly disgusting”.
Asked about the blog and the subsequent fall-out, Maher told Larry King Now yesterday (November 21) that he hadn’t kept track of the furore. “[I don’t] follow every stupid thing people lose their shit about,” he said.
“But talk about making my point for me: Yeah, I don’t know very much about Stan Lee and it certainly wasn’t a swipe at Stan Lee,” he clarified.
Pressed by King, Maher added: “I am agnostic on Stan Lee. I don’t read comic books. I didn’t even read them when I was a child. What I was saying is, a culture that thinks that comic books and comic book movies are profound meditations on the human condition is a dumb fucking culture.
“And for people to get mad at that just proves my point.”
Last week, Netflix paid tribute to Stan Lee with a special Marvel Easter egg on their streaming service.