During Friday night’s episode of “Real Time,” Bill Maher slammed his alma mater, Cornell University, and the “depravity” of fraternities while speaking about the ongoing Cornell 7 lawsuit.
Maher, who graduated from the university in 1978, began by noting that the “alleged gang rape at the Cornell frat house is deeply disturbing. But since it’s my alma mater, where I walked those hallowed halls for four years with so many memories, I don’t want to let my personal feelings get in the way… because they’re all bad.”
He proceeded to say that “Cornell sucks and I fucking hated it.” “I’m glad to see them eating a shit sandwich. It’s true,” he said. “Also, this shit could have happened anywhere there are fraternities, because it happens everywhere there are fraternities. Any place that’s all male, no girls allowed, just doesn’t function without depravity. Ask the Catholic Church, ask the Taliban. Human nature is bad, and the best we can do is create institutions that don’t make it so easy to be worse.”
Maher then called for the abolition of Greek life, explaining that everything that is “inherently bad about men gets worse if you put them in a fraternity.” He continued: “The drinking gets worse, the cruelty, the treatment of women, the tribalism, the peer pressure, one-upmanship, conformity, segregation, nepotism, bullying, elitism and just general assholery.”
“A gentleman, gentlemen, is someone who, in that situation, doesn’t exploit the woman; he saves her,” he added. Maher also went on to throw a few jabs at sororities, calling them “bitch factories producing the Karens of tomorrow.”
The Cornell 7 lawsuit refers to the legal document filed by an unnamed Cornell University student who accused seven men of raping and drugging her at a frat house party in October 2024 — and faced no legal consequences. Her lawsuit filed against the university claimed that the school failed to protect her and prevent the alleged assault.
Following an investigation by the university at the time, two of the men were expelled, while the other five received lesser punishment. The lawsuit claims that some of them wrote essays to the school to reduce their disciplinary action, according to her attorney.
With his remarks, Maher joins a list of celebrities including Florence Pugh, Mariska Hargitay, Hudson Williams, Josh Gad and more who have used their platforms to condemn the case in recent weeks.
Watch the full segment here: