Comedian Bill Maher took aim at his own side of the aisle Friday night, mocking far-left critics who torched a struggling Massachusetts lesbian bar for daring to go mask-optional one night a week.
asserted
who → take → bar
During Friday’s episode of HBO’s "Real Time," Maher weighed in on the viral story regarding Last Ditch Bar and Arts Venue — a lesbian bar in Greenfield, Massachusetts that drew national headlines this week after the Boston Globe reported on a slew of community backlash surrounding the businesses’ decision to lift its COVID-era mask mandate for one night each week.
asserted
Globe → weigh → night
"Here's what's going on at the Last Ditch Bar," Maher said, adding, "It's a very woke bar, which is fine.
asserted
which → go → Bar
"
"I love the way workers and friends are fourth and fifth on the list," Maher joked.
asserted
Maher → love → list
The comedian went on to delve into the bar's financial struggles.
asserted
comedian → go → struggles
The Boston Globe reported that more patrons had said they could not afford the cover charge, and the bar allowed them in anyway.
uncertain
bar → report → them
"But economically, it wasn't working," Maher said.
asserted
Maher → work → ?
"Because even though there was a cover charge, if you couldn't pay, they wouldn't make you pay.
asserted
you → be → ?
But also, it was masked"
asserted
it → mask → ?
Maher later pointed out that ‘because they're losing money, one of the owners was living in her truck.
asserted
one → point → truck
"
In an attempt to keep the doors open, Last Ditch made the decision to lift its strict KN-95 mask mandate one night each week — Saturdays — and allow patrons inside without the COVID-era face coverings, according to the Boston Globe.
uncertain
Ditch → keep → Globe
"It is with love we inform our immunocompromised disabled divas we will be opening Saturday nights as mask optional," Last Ditch wrote in an Aug. 31 Instagram post.
asserted
Ditch → inform → post
The backlash was swift, with locals flocking to a monthly community meeting on Sept. 11 to air their grievances, the outlet reported.
asserted
outlet → flock → grievances
Virtual attendees were quick to criticize the bar owners for their decision, with the meeting taking another turn when some critics objected to a mediator, a licensed therapist who is White.
asserted
who → criticize → mediator
"A lot of people are calling for an acknowledgment of harm and I’m hearing a WHITE therapist … center[ing] the feelings of a majority white and white adjacent staff," one person said, the newspaper reported.
asserted
newspaper → call → staff
Maher took issue with the far-left bar patrons' apparent lack of understanding of the situation and blasted their intolerance toward the business.
"And of course, the tolerant left did what they always do — became very intolerant and left," Maher said.
asserted
Maher → take → what
He went on to point to comments reportedly made by critics of the bar.
uncertain
He → go → bar
"And statements like, ‘People like you kill disabled people in the name of your own leisure and convenience,’ and ‘I hope your venue gets firebombed.’
asserted
venue → kill → leisure
This is what I'm talking about.
asserted
I → talk → what
Maher's criticism of the political left was noted by NewsBusters Executive Editor Tim Graham, who pointed out what he viewed as hypocrisy on both sides.
asserted
he → note → sides
"This whole story went viral because it's shocking that a mask mandate is still in place at a bar in 2026.
asserted
mandate → go → 2026
I imagine many people can feel more than a hint of the old COVID authoritarianism in the virulent leftist reaction to a single mask-optional night at this establishment," Graham told Fox News Digital.
asserted
Graham → imagine → Digital
"These same people are probably furious at the Boston Globe for publishing this story.
asserted
people → publish → story
They don't care that the bar was a financial mess."
asserted
bar → care → ?
Graham added that Maher seems to have a pet peeve about liberals who preach tolerance but, in Maher's view, fail to practice it.
asserted
who → add → it
"Bill Maher has a tendency to go against the dominant grain and can be savage about left-wing intolerance even though he was a massive supporter of Barack Obama," Graham said.
asserted
Graham → have → Obama
"He's been very rough on organized religion, and can bring the pain to other strains of fundamentalism."
asserted
He → bring → fundamentalism
Fox News Digital reached out to Last Ditch Bar for comment.
asserted
Digital → reach → comment
Fox News Digital’s Landon Mion contributed to this report.
asserted
Mion → contribute → report
The Aporia
