Pod Save America Hosts Call on Democrats to Cut All Israel Military Aid, No Longer Accept AIPAC Funding
Jews, Israelis Targeted in Austria Amid Surge in Antisemitic Incidents; Local Jewish Community Calls for Action
‘All of Our Strength’: Over 1,000 Pro-Israel Activists Gather in DC for Solidarity Conference
‘Devastated’: Wesley LePatner, Killed in Manhattan Mass Shooting, Was a Jewish Communal, Philanthropic Leader
Sen. Angus King Vows to No Longer Vote for Israel Military Aid Until Gaza Conditions Improve
Europe Won’t Pressure Israel to ‘Commit Suicide’ Amid Gaza Backlash, Palestinian State Push, Says Israeli FM
Israel’s National Soccer Coach Attacked in Athens Before Soccer Fans Chant ‘F–K Israel, Free Palestine’ at Match
New York Judge Sentences Neo-Nazi to 5 Years for Livestreaming Bomb Threats Against Jewish Hospitals
US Pressures Lebanon to Issue Cabinet Decision to Disarm Hezbollah Before Talks Continue
UK Plans to Recognize Palestinian State in September Unless Israel Meets Conditions, Starmer Says
Bill Maher Compares Jay Leno to Israel: Not Perfect But Held to Highest Standard
Error: Contact form not found.
by Joshua Levitt
HBO talk show host Bill Maher. Photo: WikiCommons.
Inducting NBC’s now retired Tonight Show host Jay Leno into the TV Academy’s Hall of Fame on Tuesday night, HBO talk show host Bill Maher described his friend by comparing his high standards and long career to Israel, according to entertainment website Deadline Hollywood on Wednesday.
“Jay reminds me a little of Israel,” Maher, the host of Real Time with Bill Maher, said. “He isn’t perfect but he’s held to standard I don’t think anybody in the world is expected to live up to but him.”
Maher called Leno “the most Machiavellian and also the most morally upright person I know in show business. He will hide in a closet but never needs a confessional booth.”
Raised in New York City, Maher grew up as an Irish American, and a Catholic, and only in his teens learned that his Hungarian American mother was actually Jewish. His cynical views on religion were the basis of his 2008 documentary Religulous.
Other inductees included friend of Israel Rupert Murdoch, for creating the Fox television network at a time when many thought challenging the dominant ABC, NBC and CBS networks was a fool’s errand, and Seinfeld comedian Julia Louis-Dreyfus, who has Jewish ancestry from her father’s side, the billionaire owners of the Louis Dreyfus Group, a French commodities and shipping conglomerate.
Also named in the ceremony were Dr. Ray Dolby, founder of Dolby Laboratories, who was inducted posthumously, David E. Kelley, the television writer and producer known for Ally McBeal and Boston Legal, and Brandon Stoddard, an ABC executive who later taught television production at USC’s School for Cinema and Television.
