Bill Maher Slammed Over Jokes on Reactions to Dolly Parton Death: ‘Soulless Ghoul’

Zachary LeemanAug 29th, 2026, 4:05 pm
 
Bill Maher/Dolly Parton

Screenshots via HBO (L)/Dolly Parton YouTube (R)

Bill Maher faced backlash after a joke about reactions to Dolly Parton’s death, with critics describing him as a “soulless ghoul” for the crude remark.

During his opening monologue on Real Time on Friday, Maher noted that Parton’s death seemed to swallowing up most people’s attention, even with so many other major issues going on in the world, like the Iran war, a U.S./Canada trade war, and more.

“All this was going on, and all America could really talk about this week was how sad it is we lost Dolly Parton,” Maher said. “Everybody around the country, even around the world—London, they’re doing things, the Santa Monica ferris wheel is lit up with hearts, the Empire State Building was put up in pink. The Sphere in Las Vegas added a nipple.”

Critics lit Maher up for the reference to Parton’s famously large bosom and some were displeased the comedian seemed to suggest Parton’s death did not warrant the major attention it got.

Variety’s Marlow Stern called it the “lamest” Parton tribute yet.

“Mocking our grief over losing Dolly Parton is just more proof that Trumpsimp [Bill Maher] is a soulless ghoul who wants his own Maher-A-Lago,” writer Tara Dublin wrote, referring to Maher’s famous dinner with President Donald Trump where the president signed a list of insults he’s thrown at the comedian over the years.

Others insulted Maher and suggested he was being shocking for the sake of being shocking about a beloved figure.

Dolly Parton died on Tuesday at the age of 80 after a brief battle with cancer, her family confirmed. Parton was known for her long-spanning music career, acting, and philanthropic work.

Tennessee Governor Bill Lee (R) already announced a plan to rename the Nashville International Airport after Parton, a Tennessee native.

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Zachary Leeman

Zachary Leeman covered pop culture and politics at outlets such as Breitbart, LifeZette, BizPac Review, HollywoodinToto, and others. He is the author of the novel Nigh. He joined Mediaite in 2022.