Bill Maher’s Ariana Grande Weight Jokes On ‘Real Time’ Get Mixed Audience Reaction

Bill Maher apparently found the line between a joke and a groan during Friday’s episode of Real Time With Bill Maher.

The HBO host took a couple of shots at Ariana Grande’s weight during his opening monologue, though the two jokes received very different reactions from the studio audience.

Maher was talking about the possibility of extraterrestrial life when he first brought Grande into the conversation.

“I hope the aliens are here, I do. I hope they’re here and watching us and they’re going to save us.”

He then turned to the administration’s recent release of a new batch of UFO files.

“And, by the way, the administration this week, just a few days ago, maybe yesterday, unleashed a new trove of UFO files. Interesting things in there. Triangular craft, weird lights over an army base, a stick-like figure with large eyes – oh, that was just an Ariana Grande video.”

That one got the response Maher was presumably looking for, with the audience laughing and applauding.

But then he went for another one.

“Please, we kid. We kid. Maybe that joke will make her eat something.”

That time, the room was considerably less enthusiastic. The audience responded with groans and a few “awwws,” prompting Maher to defend the punchline.

“I’m saying, maybe it will help,” he continued, before moving on to another topic: “Democrats,” he said, “have found a candidate who hates Thanksgiving.” You can watch the clip below.

The jokes come as Grande recently announced that she was stepping away from a planned West End revival of Sunday in the Park with George, in which she was set to star alongside Jonathan Bailey.

Grande has also faced plenty of public commentary about her appearance, including following the release of her “Petal” music video. She has not given a specific reason for her temporary career break, but previously explained that “boundaries, they need to be set. Human beings can need a break sometimes.”

Later in the show, Maher turned his attention to Sen. Rand Paul and his criticism of former top U.S. health official Anthony Fauci. Maher argued that Paul’s decision to obtain and publish Fauci’s personal diary was particularly out of character for a politician whose brand has long centered on privacy and limited government.

“Stop threatening to put everyone in jail who you just don’t like,” said Maher during his “New Rule” segment, which you can watch above.

“The way Senator Ran Paul is trying to do now with Dr. Anthony Fauci, who is back in the news because Senator Paul, formerly of the ‘privacy is everything’ wing of the Republican party, got hold of Dr. Fauci’s personal diary and published all of it.”

“Rand babe, your entire brand is ‘Senator Right to Privacy.’”

Paul published what have widely been called Fauci’s “diaries” last month and later subpoenaed Fauci to appear before the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee to answer questions about his handling of the COVID-19 pandemic. Fauci invoked his Fifth Amendment right against self-incrimination more than 100 times.

You can watch new episodes of Real Time With Bill Maher at 10 p.m. ET on HBO and catch all previously aired episodes on HBO Max.