Bill Maher Issues Perfect Response to Fellow Celebs Wearing Anti-ICE ‘Be Good’ Pins
The article criticizes the wave of celebrities wearing “Be Good” pins at the Golden Globes to commemorate Renée Good, a woman killed after attempting to ram an ICE agent. It frames the gesture as performative activism that comforts like-minded audiences but avoids engaging with facts or accountability.
Bill maher is highlighted for refusing to treat a red-carpet show as a platform for serious moral judgment.He called the moment “show business,” acknowledged the tragedy, blamed the shooters, and said he did not need to wear a pin-an attitude the author praises as cutting through sanctimony.
The piece argues Hollywood activism frequently enough prioritizes symbolic signaling over thoughtful inquiry or solutions, turning complex incidents into shallow theatrics. It concludes that performative outrage neither clarifies truth nor honors victims, and applauds Maher for resisting the pressure to participate in that kind of virtue signaling.
If you’re a red-blooded American, a few days ago you may have been watching the Sunday Night Football game between the New England Patriots and the Los Angeles Chargers.
If not, you might’ve been watching one of Hollywood’s countless self-congratulating award shows, the Golden Globes.
And if you did tune into the Golden Globes — and even if you didn’t — you might have heard about the swathes of far-left celebrities who were wearing “Be Good” pins to commemorate Renee Good, the woman who lost her life after she tried to ram an Immigration and Customs Enforcement agent in Minneapolis with her car last week.
The pathetic anti-ICE stunt did what most hyper-partisan acts do in 2026 — getting lots of applause from the left and heavy eye rolls from the right.
But not everybody who leans liberal thought this was a stunning and brave act.
In fact, classic liberal — not to be confused with a modern leftist — Bill Maher seemed anything but impressed when asked about his fellow celebrities wearing these “Be Good” buttons.
Take a look at Maher’s reaction below:
🚨🔥 Bill Maher was asked about Wanda Sykes wearing a “Be Good” pin for Renée Good and turning the moment into activism.
“Come on, we’re here for show business today. Uhh, you know, it was a terrible thing that happened, and it shouldn’t have happened. And, if they didn’t act… pic.twitter.com/hYEBEuoFhh
— Gina Milan (@ginamilan_) January 12, 2026
When asked if he felt that the Golden Globes pin was a good platform to push activism, Maher’s response was telling.
“Come on,” Maher reacted, along with a hearty laugh at his fellow celebrities’ expense. “We’re just here for show business today.”
Maher did offer some more substantive thoughts on what happened to Good, however.
“You know, it was a terrible thing that happened, and it shouldn’t have happened, and if they didn’t act like such thugs, it wouldn’t have had to happen,” he said. “But I don’t need to wear a pin about it.”
Apparent “thugs” shot at ICE aside, this was a perfect response from Maher that highlighted the performative bluster that has completely hijacked his side of the ideological aisle.
Maher’s contrarian response mattered because it cut through the sanctimony.
In one short exchange, he said what most Americans were already thinking: an awards show is not a tribunal, and a lapel pin is not moral courage. It’s theater — safe, consequence-free theater — designed to signal virtue to people who already agree.
That’s the rot Maher was rightfully calling out.
Hollywood activism rarely aims to understand events or improve outcomes. It exists to perform moral alignment in front of cameras. No facts are examined, no accountability is applied evenly, and no serious questions are asked. The pin itself becomes the point, not whether the story behind it has been distorted or weaponized.
Maher also did something his peers almost never do: he separated tragedy from propaganda. Acknowledging that a death is awful does not require signing onto a cartoonish narrative about ICE, law enforcement, or “state violence.”
That refusal to emotionally blackmail the audience into accepting a prepackaged conclusion is what made his comments stand out in a room addicted to applause cues.
And notice what Maher didn’t do. He didn’t pretend a red carpet moment was the place to litigate a tragic, fact-dependent law enforcement incident. He simply refused to play along, and in today’s culture, that alone reads as heresy.
That’s why Maher was right, and why the pin brigade was so transparently wrong.
Performative outrage doesn’t clarify the truth, doesn’t honor the dead, and doesn’t make anyone safer. It just turns complex, high-stakes realities into shallow symbolism, and expects the rest of the country to clap on cue.
And for calling that out, Maher — liberal or not — was the only one at the Golden Globes who deserved some modicum of applause.
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