Think Bill Maher is sorry over his Zayn Malik-Boston Bomber joke that went viral a few weeks ago? Think again.
The “Real Time” host crushed his critics Friday night on the HBO show, debuting a new segment called “Explaining Jokes to Idiots.”
“Two weeks ago I did a ‘New Rule’ on our Internet ‘Overtime’ segment about someone named Zayn Malik, who I’d never heard of until that day,” Maher stated. “Well, the P.C. police as usual read way more into that joke than was actually there.”
“‘New Rule’ is simply a framing device for the purposes of comedy,” Maher began dryly. “‘New Rules’ are not legally binding, are not actual regulations, and do not carry the force of law.”
He then described the concept of “milking the premise” for all those comedy students out there. The “old switcheroo” comes up next, which was immediately followed by the “topper.”
“Now, notice how the crowd was shocked at first, but in just a few seconds, they were cracking up and applauding,” Professor Maher said of the punchline, which likened the two physically. “That’s because they’re not idiots. They understand or ‘get’ what the joke is: That they look alike.”
“That’s it! They look alike!” he continued. “Their facial features are quite similar, which is humorous because one is a murderer, and the other is in a boy band where they only murder the music.”
There was just one other issue, which some people and even outlets ran with.
“It turns out Zayn Malik is a Muslim,” Maher said, “but neither I nor anyone on our staff knew that. How could we? The whole joke is I don’t know who the fuck he is.”
The comedian then squeezed in a solid Catholic priest joke, before concluding by calling all media outlets who covered the non-controversy “12-year-old girls.”
Watch the video above.