Laura Loomer Sues Bill Maher And HBO Over Quip On ‘Real Time’
An attorney for right-wing activist Laura Loomer has filed suit against HBO and Bill Maher over a quip that the comedian made on Real Time last month.
On his September 13 show, Maher said that he thought that Loomer was maybe “in an arranged relationship to affect the election because she’s very close to Trump. She’s 31, looks like his type.”
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Maher added, “We did an editorial here a few years ago … it was basically, who’s Trump f*cking? Because I said, you know, it’s not nobody. He’s been a dog for too long, and it’s not Melania. I think we may have our answer this week. I think it might be Laura Loomer.”
The lawsuit called the comment “false, malicious and defamatory.” Loomer is seeking more than $150 million in damages.
In the lawsuit, Loomer contended that the comment “is reasonably understood by any reasonable viewer as Defendant Maher making a factual statement of objectively verifiable fact of and concerning Ms. Loomer.”
A spokesperson for Maher’s show did not immediately return a request for comment.
The lawsuit was filed in Florida’ Fifth Judicial Circuit in Sumter County on Monday, according to a posting of the case on the site of Loomer’s attorney, Larry Klayman, himself an activist known for causes and clients on the right.
The lawsuit added, “This statement is also plainly false. Ms. Loomer has never engaged in sexual relations with President Donald Trump. There is not a shred of credible reporting or evidence suggesting otherwise. Defendant Maher had no basis in fact to make this statement. He simply fabricated it for attention, notoriety, “clicks” and profit for himself and Defendant HBO, his employer.”
In the lawsuit, Loomer also claimed that Real Time rejected a retraction and apology, and declined a request that she be invited to appear on the show. That refusal underscored their “malicious intention to harm Plaintiff and to seek to influence, with their unlawful actions, the 2024 presidential election by also defaming President Donald Trump, who Defendants loathe, if not hate, outright,” according to the lawsuit.
Maher made the comment after Loomer was spotted on trips with Trump and raised concerns among some of his allies over her influence. That led to a public X spat between Loomer and Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA), herself a firebrand figure on the right.
Trump himself sued Maher in 2013. In an appearance on The Tonight Show, the comedian said that he would give $5 million to charity if Trump could prove he was not the son of an orangutan. The lawsuit was later withdrawn.
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