What did Bill Maher say about Dolly Parton?
The late great country singer, actress, and philanthropist was essentially universally beloved.
There are few better contrasts to Parton than the divisive HBO host and podcaster.
Just days after her passing, Maher took a stick to a hornet’s nest. Is it any surprise that people are roasting him?
What did Bill Maher say about Dolly Parton?
For many of us, Bill Maher is someone we only have to think about once per week at most.
Last Week Tonight With John Oliver ends and HBO Max has the gall to suggest that someone might want to subject themselves to essentially the polar opposite of what viewers just watched.
However, he does have an audience. What percentage of them are victims of the autoplay function, we can only guess.
Regardless of what consigned them to watching him, Maher’s August 28 monologue led to him making a joke out of the tragic death of Dolly Parton.
“All this was going on, and all America could really talk about this week was how sad it is we lost Dolly Parton,” he acknowledged.
Bill Maher highlights how UNIFYING of a figure Dolly Parton was, as people across the U.S. and around the world have come together to mourn the country music icon.
— RedWave Press (@RedWavePress) August 29, 2026
“All America could really talk about this week was how sad it is that we lost Dolly Parton, and you see everyone… pic.twitter.com/b217EzdDfH
“Everybody around the country, even around the world,” Maher continued.
“London, they’re doing things, the Santa Monica Ferris wheel is lit up with hearts, the Empire State Building was put up in pink,” he cited accurately.
Maher then joked: “The Sphere in Las Vegas added a nipple.”
This is a clear reference to Parton’s breasts. Though younger generations tended to think of her as an older woman with a wild sense of style, her deliberately busty look drew eyes many decades ago.
When discussing a universally beloved figure who spent untold millions on charity while entertaining the world for many decades, making a crass joke seldom goes over well.
The Empire State Building went pink at exactly 9:25pm for Dolly Parton. Because of course they made it 9 to 5. That’s how you honor an icon. 🩷
— Christopher Webb (@cwebbonline.com) August 25, 2026 at 11:24 PM
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Dolly fans (more widely known as ‘people’) were incensed
A lot of understandable yet possibly unhelpful name-calling ensued online.
According to various outlets, people called out Bill Maher over his Dolly Parton joke by noting that his attempts to be edgy only came across as douchey. (That is sort of his whole brand.)
“Bill Maher trying to get edgy about Dolly Parton is wild. Buddy, you’re not ‘telling hard truths,’ you’re just the guy who looked at a national treasure and said, ‘How can I make this about my bitterness,'” reads one tweet.
Many people zeroed in on the contrast between Maher and Parton. And no, not on their differing chest sizes.
Parton was almost universally beloved, even across the political aisle. Maher clearly has fans of some variety for some reason, but he is widely hated. And it appears to have made him deeply bitter.
Bill Maher highlights how UNIFYING of a figure Dolly Parton was, as people across the U.S. and around the world have come together to mourn the country music icon.
— RedWave Press (@RedWavePress) August 29, 2026
“All America could really talk about this week was how sad it is that we lost Dolly Parton, and you see everyone… pic.twitter.com/b217EzdDfH
In all fairness, we do want to acknowledge that Dolly Parton very deliberately drew attention to her bust — even in her final years.
We think that she would have laughed at such a joke. She was a famously good-natured person.
Even so, it is understandable that fans felt that this crass joke was ghoulish. There are many ways to tell tasteful jokes about a deceased celebrity without being upsetting.
We should keep in mind that Maher expressed a belief earlier this year that he (a man with a long-running HBO series and a podcast) has been “canceled” because he doesn’t have an Emmy.
Many believe that Maher has allowed his bitterness at being fundamentally unlikable to make him deliberately attempt to sabotage goodwill. We do not, however, claim to know the inner workings of his mind.
Nor would we care to.