Bill Maher Gets Booed for Booking Ann Coulter on ‘Real Time’

“Real Time” returned last night after a two-month hiatus, and Bill Maher wasted little time courting controversy — this time from his own studio audience. During a panel discussion with former congressman Barney Frank, Maher received boos from the crowd when he announced that Ann Coulter would be on the show next week.

“Yeah, that’s called a newsmaker. A policymaker. You’ll have to suck on that,” he said in response to his audience’s vocal disapproval. Coulter has appeared on “Real Time” on several occasions throughout the years, and the two are friends despite holding diametrically opposed political views.

It wasn’t the first time Coulter was mentioned last night. During his monologue, which focused on the ongoing government shutdown as well as the latest bombshell revelations about Donald Trump and his inner circle, Maher alluded to the fact that Coulter and other Fox News personalities have the president’s ear when it comes to major policy decisions. “Of course Trump was not having that. Nobody puts man-baby in the corner,” Maher said of Trump’s feud with Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi. “He was like, ‘I’m not gonna let some woman push me around — is Ann Coulter OK with that?'”

Maher and Coulter both thrive on controversy, and neither is likely to be bothered by this response — or the fact that they’re probably going to receive more boos during next Friday’s episode of “Real Time.”