Arts & Entertainment

Bill Maher under fire for homophobic humor, again

Published

7 years ago

November 11, 2019

Comedian and talk show host Bill Maher (Photo credit: Janet Van Ham/HBO)

Talk show host Bill Maher is once again facing criticism for using homophobic humor, this time for a feature he did on the most recent episode of his HBO TV show, “Real Time with Bill Maher.”

In the segment, which was making fun of Senator Lindsey Graham, the comedian included several jokes based on outdated gay stereotypes.

Though the focus of Maher’s rant was what he called Senator Graham’s “hypocrisy on steroids,” he read selections from a list titled “24 Things You Don’t Know About Lindsey Graham.” which included several one-liners referencing once-familiar clichés about gay people.

The full list:

My name is Lindsey and my pronouns are He and Y’all.
My spirit animal is a jellyfish.
I burn calories by skipping to work.
I’m the only Senator whose office has a bidet and a fainting couch.
For three weeks in 1992 I was married to Liza Minnelli.
In a fire, the first things I’d save are my bridal magazines.
When I was in school, the kids would tease me by calling me “Lindsey.”
I was the first person to push a dog around in a stroller.
The greatest advice my mother gave me was to stop waving my hands when I run.
My quote in the high school yearbook was “a lady is allowed to changed her mind.”
My greatest legislative accomplishment is naming a post office after Nathan Lane.
If Trump and I were a celebrity couple, I’d want the tabloids to call us “Donsey.”
I once kissed Trump’s ass so hard I could taste Hannity.
John McCain’s last words to me were “Let go of my hand.”
People who say I’m anti-immigrant haven’t heard me talk about Siegfried and Roy.
When people call me a “hawk” I just want to bomb the sh*t out of them.
My favorite James Bond movie is Octo-yucky.
I’m one of only three people in Washington allowed to trim President Trump’s nose hairs.
I employ over a dozen pool boys even though I don’t own a pool.
Irony alert! Thanks to a food allergy, I avoid fruit.
For Halloween, I went as the Lindsey Graham from the Clinton impeachment.
If you saw just five seconds of the videotape Trump has of me, everything would suddenly make sense.
My nickname in the Air Force was “JAG-off.”
If it was socially acceptable, I would wear nothing but scarves.

Graham has long been the butt of jokes around rumors of his homosexuality (rumors that he consistently denies), but some of Maher’s comedic digs within the list are based on negative tropes which are now largely considered demeaning and harmful.

Maher has been accused before of perpetuating homophobic stereotypes in his political comedy, such as when he joked earlier this year about the Trump-Putin relationship by saying, “Forget collusion, I want to know if there’s penetration.”

He’s not the only one, either. Comedian Chelsea Handler fell under fire over her homophobic jokes about Graham being gay, being a bottom, and having a “d*ck-sucking video.”

More recently, Broadway icon Patti LuPone was criticized for joking on Twitter that Graham was a “disgrace” who should “just bite the bullet and come out.”

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Online Culture

Clavicular charged in alleged rape of teenage influencer

Online personality’s real name is Braden Peters

Published

8 hours ago

September 23, 2026

Joe Reberkenny

Braden Peters a.k.a. "Clavicular" (Screen capture via NBC News/YouTube)

Online personality Clavicular, whose real name is Braden Peters, has been accused of rape.

According to NBC, Aleksandra Vasilevna Mendoza, an 18-year-old influencer known online as Alorah or Alorah Ziva, accused Peters of sexual assault, and the case is making its way through the court system.

The alleged incident occurred on May 23, 2025, when Mendoza was 17.

According to a criminal complaint from the Chatham (Mass.) Police Department, Peters called her an Uber to his family’s home. Once there, he allegedly got her drunk on vodka while they livestreamed on Twitch and then raped her. His mother and grandmother were allegedly in the house.

The documents allege Clavicular committed rape, drugging a person for sexual intercourse, and procuring and providing liquor to a person under 21.

According to court documents acquired by NPR, Mendoza began communicating with Peters on Instagram, where he paid her to appear on his livestreams to help her “make her name known on social media.”

According to those documents, Peters arranged for the minor to come to Cape Cod home to participate in a videostream for his 437,000 followers on Kick, 1.2 million followers on TikTok, and more than 1 million followers on Instagram.

At his home, Peters allegedly instructed Mendoza to say she was 18 on his videostream and to claim the alcohol on camera was water instead of vodka. Mendoza said she felt peer-pressured to drink the spirit and that she became noticeably intoxicated after a couple of drinks.

The allegations go on to state that after stopping the stream, Peters and Mendoza kissed on a couch and then had sex in his bed without her consent. Mendoza said she did not receive a sexual assault forensic exam after the incident. NPR does not name alleged victims of sexual assault.

The charges come months after Mendoza sued Peters in Miami, accusing him of sexual battery in connection with the events of May 2025. The civil lawsuit also separately alleges that he injected her face with a non-FDA-approved fat-dissolving substance during a November livestream in Florida.

Peters is known for his “looksmaxxing” concept of vanity, which is at the core of his online presence. The “looksmaxxing” culture he has helped cultivate combines elements of incel culture and heterosexuality, with the stated goal of attracting the opposite sex. He has gone as far as to say he has undergone “bonesmashing,” or hitting his own face with a hammer; taken anabolic steroids to more rapidly grow muscle; and used crystal meth as an appetite suppressant.

At the same time, looksmaxxing has been described as having elements of homoeroticism, with “looksmaxxers” appearing more concerned with impressing other men than women. Peters has multiple times pointed to openly gay actor Matt Bomer as the gold standard for male facial aesthetics.

Peters’s arraignment is scheduled for Oct. 14.