Politically Incorrect - Controversy and Cancellation

Controversy and Cancellation

In the aftermath of the September 11 attacks on the World Trade Center and elsewhere, U.S. President George W. Bush said that the terrorists responsible were cowards (included in the September 11 attacks was the crash of American Airlines Flight 77, upon which frequent guest Barbara Olson was traveling to a Politically Incorrect taping; Maher left a panel chair empty for a week afterwards). On Politically Incorrect's September 17 show, Maher's guest Dinesh D'Souza disputed Bush's label, saying the terrorists were warriors. Maher agreed, and according to a transcript replied "We have been the cowards, lobbing cruise missiles from 2,000 miles away. That's cowardly. Staying in the airplane when it hits the building, say what you want about it, it's not cowardly".

While similar comments had been made in other media, Maher's comments became a major controversy. Some advertisers withdrew their support and some ABC affiliates stopped airing the show temporarily. White House press secretary Ari Fleischer denounced Maher, warning that "people have to watch what they say and watch what they do."

Maher apologized, and explained that he had been criticizing U.S. military policy, not American soldiers. He pointed out that whether the attacks were cowardly was irrelevant to whether they were morally right or wrong.

The show was canceled the following June, which Maher and many others saw as a result of the controversy, although ABC denied that the controversy was a factor and said the program was canceled due to declining ratings. Maher said that the show struggled for advertisers in its final months.

Maher now hosts an hour-long program on HBO called Real Time with Bill Maher, which follows a similar format.