Bill Maher Responds to UC - Berkeley Petition: Students Don't Get the Free Speech Irony

Bill Maher fully expects to deliver the Dec. commencement address at the University of California (UC) - Berkeley, unless his appearance becomes too much of a sideshow.

The school has sided with Maher, stating recently that they will not accept the Dec. commencement speaker selection committee's, known as the "Californians," decision to disinvite the "Real Time" host. Maher also addressed the issue on his HBO talk show.

"A few weeks ago, Ben Affleck was on our show and we had a discussion on Islam that I've had a thousand and one nights with a lot of other people. But he's an A-list movie star so now our very deep media started to care about it," Maher said with more than a touch of sarcasm. "It's always easy to do a story about somebody being mad at somebody so when a few thousand people online, who didn't have to do anything more than click a button, who didn't even go to Berkeley necessarily wanted me to be disinvited as the commencement speaker."

According to the Huffington Post, students at the school organized an online petition to have the administration disinvite Maher. The petitioners claimed Maher's comments on various religions are "offensive," "blatantly bigoted and racist."

Maher addressed that as well, citing a HuffPost Live segment in which Reza Aslan, whom the "Real Time" host dubbed his "most respectable critic who's a Muslim." In the segment, Aslan says outright that Maher is "not a bigot. I know him."

A political comedian, Maher made fun of the "liberal college students" for not understanding the irony in the petition. Maher's appointment will mark the 50th anniversary of the school's celebrated "Free Speech Movement."

"I guess they don't teach irony in college anymore," Maher joked.

"My only reservation in not coming is the argument that it will be a media circus and turn what should be a day about the graduates, which it should be, you, into something else," he said. "I don't want that. It's the only reason I would ever pull out.

"This will be your day. This is a commencement speech. The issue is you."