Wanda Sykes is pulling back the curtain on what she says was a surprisingly tense encounter with Bill Maher after she roasted him at the 2026 Golden Globes.
During an appearance on Vulture’s Good One podcast, Sykes recalled bumping into the comedian in a parking lot after the ceremony, where she claimed Maher wanted to hash out the joke.
“He stopped me out in the parking lot,” Sykes said. “We were waiting for our cars.”
According to Sykes, Maher got right to the point.
“He was like, ‘What was that about?’ ” she recalled. “And I was like, ‘It’s a joke, Bill.’ He’s like, ‘Well, I mean, it wasn’t even a joke.’ I was like, ‘Oh no, I heard laughing. It was clearly a joke.’ “
The exchange stemmed from Sykes’ appearance at the 83rd Annual Golden Globes, where she presented the award for Best Performance in Stand-Up Comedy on Television and took a shot at Maher, who was nominated for his special Bill Maher: Is Anyone Else Seeing This?
“Bill Maher, you give us so much,” Sykes joked from the stage. “But I would love a little less. Just try less.”
The cameras caught Maher cracking a smile before the joke seemed to land a little differently. If Sykes’ version of events is to be believed, he wasn’t quite ready to let it go after the show wrapped.
She said Maher continued pushing back during their parking lot conversation, which she reenacted on the podcast.
“He’s like, ‘But I don’t… I don’t… but, I mean, I don’t, but still… I mean, it’s not even a joke. It was just like…’ ” Sykes said. “I said, ‘See? You’re doing exactly what we said in the joke! We need less of this! You epitomize the joke. Less of this!’ “
“He didn’t care for it,” she added with a laugh.
Sykes also claimed Maher told her he’d been fielding texts from people who weren’t fans of the bit.
“He said he was getting a lot of texts and people were saying, ‘What was that?’ and ‘It was a stupid joke,’ ” Sykes recalled.
That, according to Sykes, was her cue to answer back.
“And when he said ‘stupid,’ I said, ‘Okay, now you’re gonna get it,’ ” Sykes said. “I was like, ‘Well, I got a lot of texts telling me how great it was and how they don’t like you, and it was really funny.’ “
The conversation apparently took one final turn that Sykes didn’t see coming.
“I guess, you know, that’s the problem. You’re watching Fox News, and I’m over here on MSNBC. See?” she said. “And then he asked me to be on his podcast,” Sykes said. “I was like, ‘Absolutely not!’”
Earlier in the night, Sykes also accepted the Golden Globe on behalf of absent winner Ricky Gervais, whose Netflix special Mortality won Best Performance in Stand-Up Comedy on Television, and jokingly dedicated the award to God and the trans community.
Sykes is currently starring in her latest Netflix stand-up special, Wanda Sykes: Legacy, which premiered on May 19.
