In a surprising April 24 appearance on Piers Morgan Uncensored, comedian Bill Maher addressed the growing backlash from a recent parody written by his long-time friend and fellow comic, Larry David. The controversy stems from Maher’s dinner with former President Donald Trump—a meeting that David implicitly mocked in a biting essay published in The New York Times on April 21.

Larry David’s Satirical Strike

David’s op-ed, titled “My Dinner With Adolf,” never explicitly names Maher or Trump. Yet, the essay is a thinly veiled parody of Maher’s April 11 monologue from Real Time with Bill Maher, where he described Trump laughing, appearing self-aware, and even "human" during their March 31 dinner.

David, writing in character, drew a chilling comparison: meeting a private version of Hitler who laughs and seems surprisingly relatable. “Here I was, prepared to meet Hitler… but this private Hitler was a completely different animal,” the character muses, a not-so-subtle jab at Maher’s attempt to describe Trump in human terms.

Maher: “You Don’t Win with Hitler Comparisons”

Maher didn’t hide his disappointment in David. “This wasn’t my favorite moment of our friendship,” he said bluntly. He accused David of crossing a moral and rhetorical line. “I think the minute you play the Hitler card, you’ve lost the argument,” Maher declared.

He argued that invoking Hitler’s name over a dinner with Trump trivializes the gravity of the Holocaust. “Hitler has really kind of got to stay in his own place,” Maher said. “He is the GOAT of evil. And we’re just going to have to leave it like that.”

“I Don’t Need to Be Lectured About Trump”

Maher made it clear that having dinner with Trump didn’t change his views on the former president. “Just the fact that I met him in person didn’t change that,” Maher said. “The fact that I reported honestly is not a sin either.”

He rejected the idea that dialogue equals endorsement. “I don’t need to be lectured on who Donald Trump is,” he told Morgan. Maher has frequently criticized Trump on his show, and insists he remains critical—but believes that honest reporting should not be condemned.

A Personal Wound: Jewish Identity and the Holocaust

Both Maher and David are Jewish, which makes the comparison even more personal for Maher. “To throw the Holocaust into the mix over a dinner conversation is kind of insulting to six million dead Jews,” he said.

For Maher, comparing any modern political figure—no matter how divisive—to Adolf Hitler is historically irresponsible and morally problematic. “Maybe it’s not completely logically fair, but Hitler is not someone you casually parody. He’s a category of his own.”

When Satire Stops Being Funny

David hasn’t responded publicly since the piece was published, but his satirical tone made it clear: he found Maher’s openness toward Trump deeply troubling. Meanwhile, Maher sees the reaction as proof that public discourse has become dangerously rigid, where even conversation is seen as betrayal.

“Everything is judged,” Maher said, suggesting that nuance has been replaced by knee-jerk outrage. “The goalposts keep moving.”

Friendship on the Line

What was once a friendship filled with laughs has now been tested by political divides and public performance. As two of comedy’s sharpest minds now spar over satire and ethics, one thing is certain: in the battle between free speech and sensitivity, even laughter has limits.