Dave Chappelle has fired back at Bill Maher's criticism of his Saudi Arabia comedy festival performance in his December 19 Netflix special, The Unstoppable.Chappelle addressed the backlash over his Riyadh Comedy Festival remarks, claiming free speech is more prevalent there than in America. Calling out Maher's “smug cracker-a** commentary,” he said:“I’ve known Bill since I was like 18, 19 years old, and I’ve never said this publicly, but f*** that guy.”Celebrities Visit SiriusXM - May 20, 2024 - Source: GettyOn the October 3 episode of Real Time, Bill Maher criticized Chappelle for his remarks at the Riyadh Comedy Festival. He told comedian Louis C.K.:“Dave Chappelle … was in the press today saying that you can speak more freely over here than in America. It is not true.”Louis C.K., who also performed at the festival, replied, “I don’t know if that’s true.” He then quipped that Chappelle should try out a joke about religious figures there and see how it goes.Continue to read for more details.Did Bill Maher defend Dave Chappelle before? Details exploredBill Maher defended Dave Chappelle in the past, particularly during the 2021 backlash over Chappelle’s Netflix special, The Closer. According to a report in the Planned Man, he argued that being on “Team Dave” did not equate to being anti-trans. He said:“That’s what bothers me to begin with, I call it the One True Opinion,” Maher said. “There is the One True Opinion and – there isn’t. There isn’t just one true opinion. I’m a free-speech guy. Now, I’m Team Dave, but that doesn’t mean I am anti-trans. You can have two thoughts in your head at the same time.”Bill Maher is not a transgender supporter or opponent but a self-described liberal critic of what he views as “wokeness” and certain progressive policies.The 69-year-old publicly disagreed with Dave Chappelle for the first time during his October episode of Real Time with Bill Maher.Responding to his remarks recently, the stand-up comedian slammed Maher for his statement made during Saudi Arabia’s Riyadh Comedy Festival. He said:“These motherf**kers act like because I did a comedy festival in Saudi Arabia, I somehow betrayed my principles. They said, 'Well, Saudi Arabia k*lled a journalist...I mean, look, Israel is a country. Israel has killed 240 journalists in the last three months. So I didn't know y'all was still counting.”Other than Dave Chappelle, Bill Maher has publicly slammed numerous individuals over the years on Real Time with Bill Maher, his podcasts, and in interviews.He slammed Jimmy Kimmel’s wife, Molly McNearney, during the season finale of Real Time with Bill Maher in November this year. McNearney appeared on the We Can Do Hard Things podcast, where she revealed that before the 2024 elections, she emailed conservative family members a list of "10 reasons" not to vote for Donald Trump. She said she lost relationships with some of her family members. She explained:“To me, them voting for Trump is them not voting for my husband and me and our family.”Responding to her comments, Maher said that he could think of “100 reasons,” but he would never present them to someone as an ultimatum. He argued such attitudes contributed to Kamala Harris’s loss.