Bill Maher reveals his role in Woody Harrelson’s bizarre vaccine rant on ‘SNL’

Bill Maher, the host of HBO’s “Real Time,” said he worked “a bit” with actor Woody Harrelson on his controversial “Saturday Night Live” monologue about the coronavirus vaccine.

Harrelson, while hosting ‘SNL’ for the fifth time in February, pushed a COVID-19 conspiracy theory when he told a joke about reading a movie script before the pandemic hit about drug cartels buying off media and politicians to force people to stay home unless they kept taking cartel drugs over and over again.

“I threw away the script,” said Harrelson, who has also shared conspiracy theories linking 5G to the virus on social media. “I mean, who is going to believe this crazy idea? Being forced to take drugs? I do it on purpose all day.

Maher, on a recent episode of his “Club Random” podcast, said he worked “a bit” on the monologue with longtime friend Harrelson and said the actor’s decision to exit the script was “ball”.

“I mean it’s the plot of some movies, shows, ‘It’s live, they can’t stop me, I’ll do it,'” Maher said. “I don’t know what they knew about the end of that story, but it was a brilliant way to make that point too.”

Maher said he’s on the same page as Harrelson when it comes to skepticism about drug companies.

That didn’t mean COVID wasn’t a real virus and the vaccine didn’t work, he added.

The comedian continued, “The fact that he was able or wanted to put his considerable popularity, because you know he’s a beloved figure, and say, ‘I’m going to take a political capital hit by doing this statement in this highly publicized arena. I mean, you have to give the guy props for this even if you don’t agree with it.

“I wouldn’t,” Spade said, causing Maher to laugh, saying he had no opinion on the matter.