Real Time host Bill Maher is launching his own podcast network to promote “freedom of expression.”
The HBO host spoke to The Hollywood Reporter about his new venture, titled The Club Random Studios Network, which he is co-creating with Chris Case and Chuck LaBella.
“I am looking for people who are not talking point people. I’m looking for people who don’t, before they speak, say, ‘what’s the right answer here?’” Maher said.
The first podcast on the network will be hosted by former ESPN anchor Sage Steele, who exited the network in 2023 after she settled a lawsuit with ESPN and Disney. In the lawsuit, Steele alleged that she had been “sidelined” by the company after she made controversial remarks on Jay Cutler‘s Uncut podcast about the coronavirus vaccine, and questioned Former President Barack Obama‘s racial lineage. The lawsuit claimed Disney and ESPN’s actions violated her first amendment rights, as she was not speaking on the company’s behalf.
Steele had been with ESPN since 2007 prior to leaving the company.
Maher praised Steele for the controversy, noting that it made her “the perfect choice to be our first new host,” per THR.
“Like me, she pissed off Disney. There’s a certain poetic symmetry to that,” he said, referring to his public feud with Disney after ABC canceled his show Politically Incorrect in 2002.
Steele revealed that her podcast was partially inspired by the backlash she faced.
“You realize that by sharing your story, others can benefit as well,” she said. “I’ve gotten thousands of emails over the last couple of years since I kind of became controversial and started getting canceled, from people saying, ‘oh my gosh, thank you for sharing,’ ‘oh my gosh, I’m afraid too,’ and ‘oh my gosh, please don’t be quiet, you’re speaking for me.’”
She continued, “That’s where this came from. I’ve always had that curiosity but now I know firsthand what it’s like when you open up and are vulnerable and share.”
She added that the podcast network aims to fill a void she and Maher believe this country has.
“It’s not even about me or Bill, this is about the big picture, and what I believe and Bill believes is missing in this country, which is true conversation and listening,” she said. “I mean, since my controversies began — and long before that, actually — people who know me knew my biggest priority is diversity of thought, and if we don’t have that we have nothing.”
Steele’s new podcast The Sage Steele Show will debut later today (March 27).
