Bill Maher's Racial Slur Leads To Calls For Firing

LOS ANGELES, CA — Chance the Rapper, an activist from Black Lives Matter — as well as one from the alt-right — are calling for Bill Maher to be fired by HBO after Maher used a racial slur Friday night on his show, "Real Time With Bill Maher." See a clip of the segment below.

Maher was interviewing Republican Senator Ben Sasse of Nebraska and they were discussing adults dressing up for Halloween. Maher said it's popular in California, and asked Sen. Sasse if people do that in Nebraska.

"It's frowned upon. We don't do that quite as much," Sasse said.

"I've got to get to Nebraska more," Maher said.

"You're welcome. We'd love to have you work in the fields with us," Sass said.

"Work in the fields? Senator, I'm a house n****r," Maher said.

Some in the audience laughed and even cheered, but others groaned. Sasse was quiet and Maher immediately looked uncomfortable. (See video below) "No, it's a joke," Maher said.

Activists of all political stripes are calling for Maher to be fired, including Black Lives Matter civil rights leader Deray McKesson. So is Jack Posobiec, who is described as an "alt-right personality." Chance the Rapper even weighed in, asking HBO to not air one more episode of "Real Time With Bill Maher."

"But really, @BillMaher has got to go. There are no explanations that make this acceptable," McKeeson tweeted.

Sen. Sasse also tweeted Saturday morning that he should have spoken up at the time. "I'm a 1st Amendment absolutist. Comedians get latitude to cross hard lines," he wrote. "But free speech comes with a responsibility to speak up when folks use that word. Me just cringing last night wasn't good enough."

Maher has not yet commented. Buzzfeed reporter Julia Reinstein is reporting that HBO said "Maher's use of the n-word was 'completely inexcusable' and they're removing the comment from re-runs."

Photo: Bill Maher at the PETA screening of "I Am An Animal: The story of Ingrid Newkirk and PETA." Date: November 2007 Source: David Shankbone/Wikimedia Commons