--- title: James Corden Claps Back At Bill Maher’s Fat-Shaming Comments description: The 'Late Late Show' host had a heartfelt response to Bill Maher's insistence that fat-shaming should "make a comeback." canonical: https://time.com/5678358/james-corden-bill-maher-fat-shaming/ author: Raisa Bruner article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2019-09-16T16:09:16.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-04-13T08:00:18.364Z og:title: James Corden Claps Back At Bill Maher’s 'Insulting' Fat-Shaming Comments og:description: Corden had an emotional response to Maher's comments on fat-shaming og:url: https://time.com/5678358/james-corden-bill-maher-fat-shaming/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt7274892a34d65b76/698a02f7db298765592642c3/james-corden-bill-maher-fat-shaming.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 675 og:image:alt: The Late Late Show with James Corden og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: James Corden Claps Back At Bill Maher’s 'Insulting' Fat-Shaming Comments twitter:description: Corden had an emotional response to Maher's comments on fat-shaming twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt7274892a34d65b76/698a02f7db298765592642c3/james-corden-bill-maher-fat-shaming.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # James Corden Claps Back At Bill Maher’s 'Insulting' Fat-Shaming Comments  by [Raisa Bruner](https://time.com/author/raisa-bruner/)  ## Raisa Bruner Sep 16, 2019 4:09 PM UTC  The Late Late Show with James Corden The Late Late Show with James CordenTerence Patrick—CBS/Getty Images  by [Raisa Bruner](https://time.com/author/raisa-bruner/)  ## Raisa Bruner Sep 16, 2019 4:09 PM UTC James Corden took home three Emmy Awards over the weekend — but he’s currently in the spotlight for a recent monologue that addressed a more serious issue than the _Carpool Karaoke_ star is usually known for. On his _Late Late Show with James Corden_ last Thursday night, the British comedian took the time to take his fellow talk show host Bill Maher to task over recent fat-shaming remarks. “Fat shaming doesn’t need to end, it needs to make a comeback,” Maher, who is the star of _Real Time with Bill Maher_ on HBO, opined late in August. “Some amount of shame is good. We shamed people out of smoking and into wearing seat belts. We shamed them out of littering and most of them out of racism. Shame is the first step in reform.” To this, Corden had some thoughts of his own. “Fat-shaming never went anywhere,” he responded. “Ask literally any fat person. We are reminded of it all the time.” He went on: “There’s a common and insulting misconception that fat people are stupid and lazy, and we’re not… We know that being overweight isn’t good for us and I’ve struggled my entire life trying to manage my weight and I suck at it. I’ve had good days and bad months.” In a follow-up [interview with](https://www.etonline.com/james-corden-on-why-he-felt-led-to-address-bill-mahers-fat-shaming-comments-exclusive-132429) _Entertainment Tonight_ after winning his Emmys_,_ Corden further explained his response, saying he has “nothing but respect” for Maher. “I saw something that I felt like I had experience with,” he explained. “Ultimately, I think I know a little more about what it’s like to be overweight than perhaps some other people do. So, to see someone talk like that made me feel like, ‘Well, this is something I feel like we should talk about.'” So far, Corden’s response has continued to garner a warm response, with the video of his comments racking up nearly two million views. This is not the first time Maher has [come under fire](https://time.com/4813655/bill-maher-real-time-apology/) for controversial statements on a range of subjects; in 2017, he made a public apology after using a racial slur. ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/5678358/james-corden-bill-maher-fat-shaming/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/5678358/james-corden-bill-maher-fat-shaming/"},"headline":"James Corden Claps Back At Bill Maher’s 'Insulting' Fat-Shaming Comments","datePublished":"2019-09-16T16:09:16.000Z","dateModified":"2026-04-13T08:00:18.364Z","description":"\"Fat-shaming never went anywhere\"","url":"https://time.com/5678358/james-corden-bill-maher-fat-shaming/","keywords":["Newsfeed","celebrities","Late Night Television","james corden","onetime"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt7274892a34d65b76/698a02f7db298765592642c3/james-corden-bill-maher-fat-shaming.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Raisa Bruner","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/raisa-bruner/"}],"articleSection":"","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt7274892a34d65b76/698a02f7db298765592642c3/james-corden-bill-maher-fat-shaming.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"The Late Late Show with James Corden","caption":"The Late Late Show with James Corden","creditText":"Terence Patrick—CBS/Getty Images","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/tag/time-section-newsfeed/","name":"Newsfeed"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/5678358/james-corden-bill-maher-fat-shaming/","name":"James Corden Claps Back At Bill Maher’s 'Insulting' Fat-Shaming Comments"}}]}] ```