In a web-exclusive clip for “Real Time,” comedian Bill Maher thought it would be funny to compare former One Direction band member Zayn Malik to Dzhokhar Tsarnaev, more commonly known as the “Boston Bomber.”
“Just tell me two things, Zayn,” asked Maher in the clip, which was posted online last week. “Which one in the band were you, and where were you during the Boston Marathon?”
Unsurprisingly, he faced plenty of outrage on social media for comparing Zayn to a suspected terrorist, as One Direction fans freaked out over the joke.
We saw that Zayn was mentioned on Bill Maher’s show but we refuse to post it because it’s extremely rude and insulting to Zayn.
— Zayn Malik News (@ZaynJMNews) April 4, 2015
bill maher compared zayn to the bosten marathon bomber…when are people going to realise terrorist jokes are disgusting & not funny at all
— 116 (@taxistyles) April 4, 2015
Why is bill maher trying to be “funny” by comparing zayn to someone who killed innocent people at the Boston marathon..so sick.
— kimmie (@cloudszilo) April 5, 2015
OKAY WHOEVER BILL MAHER IS I HOPE HE LOSES HIS TV SHOW FOR MAKING FUN OF ZAYN AND AN ENTIRE RELIGION SUCH DISRESPECT #RespectForZayn
— paula (@riseagainstommo) April 5, 2015
There are plenty more tweets where those came from, in addition to the Change.org petition demanding Maher give an apology for the “racist joke.” It has garnered well over 4,000 signatures.
Currently, Tsarnaev is on trial for the Boston Marathon bombing that occurred back in 2013. Of course, Zayn Malik has been in the news recently for abruptly quitting One Direction.
Maher really hasn’t been on his game lately. Recently, he actually defended Hillary Clinton for her private e-mail scandal. He receive some — albeit much less — criticism for that, too.
H/T Mediaite
