Bill Maher is not backing down when it comes to criticizing fans of Marvel giant Stan Lee, and fans of comic books in general.
On Friday’s “Real Time With Bill Maher,” the host insisted that he had nothing against the late Lee, but that adult fans of comics simply need to “grow up.”
“I’m not glad Stan Lee is dead, I’m sad you’re alive,” Maher said.
The segment was meant to address controversy over a blog post Maher wrote back in November. For some reason, Maher had felt that Lee’s death was a good opportunity to mock his mourning fans.
“The guy who created Spider-Man and the Hulk has died, and America is in mourning,” he wrote in a blog post just days after Lee died. “Deep, deep mourning for a man who inspired millions to, I don’t know, watch a movie, I guess.”
His blog post generated backlash from fans as well as from media production company POW! Entertainment, which Lee founded. In an open letter, the company called Maher’s post “frankly disgusting” and noted that “countless people” credit Lee’s work with teaching then “that the world is not made up of absolutes, that heroes can have flaws and even villains can show humanity within their souls.”