Bill Maher On Lin-Manuel Miranda’s ‘In the Heights’ Controversy – Deadline

Bill Maher had some advice for Lin-Manuel Miranda on Friday.

“Stop the apologizing,” said Maher about Miranda’s reaction to criticism that his new film, In the Heights, does not depict more darkly-colored Puerto Ricans onscreen.

“You’re the guy who made the founding fathers Black and Hispanic! I don’t think you have to apologize to Twitter.”

Miranda, the film’s wunderkind composer/lyricist/producer/co-scribe and star apologized in a social media post earlier this week for the the lack of Afro-Latinx representation in the musical.

“The committee that makes note of everyone’s skin tone took note of it,” said Maher.

“Do I think that he really thinks he should apologize? I don’t,” inveighed the comedian on Real Time. “I think that he just wants to avoid the news cycle, and I don’t blame him.”

“This is why people hate Democrats; It’s cringey,” said the host of Miranda’s critics.

“I mean he’s a Latino making a Latino movie with a Latino cast. Not good enough. Nothing is ever good enough for these people. They’re like children. We don’t raise our children right and it’s reflected in the media. No one ever tells their children, ‘Shut the f*ck up. Sit down. Listen to your elders. Stop bitching.’”

Maher finished with, “People are going to have to stand up to these bullies, because that’s what it is, bullying. It’s ‘I can make you crawl like a dog and I enjoy it.’”