Bill Maher On Workplace Romance: Don’t Worry Darling
deadline.comBill Maher saved his final “New Rule” on tonight’s Real Time to address sex in the workplace. His news hook was two workplace romances that have gotten a lot of media attention of late: that between Boston Celtics head coach Ime Udoka and an unnamed female subordinate and the relationship between director Olivia Wilde and her Don’t Worry Darling co-star Harry Styles.
According to ESPN today, “The power dynamic associated with a superior’s improper relationship with a staff member was the primary finding and policy violation” in Udoka’s case.
That led to his suspension for a year, with some question as to whether he will return to the team at all. It is, of course, that type of imbalance that has led to a host of departures in the highest ranks of Hollywood and corporate America since the start of the #MeToo movement.
Maher took issue with Udoka’s suspension, with the caveat that “if it turns out that he was violent or physically coercive, then his case has nothing to do with what I’m about to say and he should expect the appropriate and severe punishment.” But barring that, Maher called for a “review of our war on office romances,” as he put it. “Who are we to tell other people they can’t have love because when they met they weren’t exactly co-equal?” asked the host. “People aren’t always attracted to their co-equal.
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