Last month, One Direction fans were infamously upset over Zayn Malik leaving One Direction. Now, supporters of the British pop group and sudden solo singer are furious… at comedian and talk show host Bill Maher.
Recently on HBO’s Real Time With Bill Maher, the host compared Malik to Boston Marathon bombing suspect Dzhokhar Tsarnaev, who is currently on trial for the events on April 15, 2013.
“I think after everything we’ve been through, I at least deserve the common respect of being told face to face [that you’d quit One Direction],” Maher said during his “New Rules” segment. “Just tell me two things, Zayn. Which one in the band were you? And where were you during the Boston Marathon?”
Malik and One Direction fans have accused Maher of making an “Islamophobic terrorist joke.” A sampling of the outrage can be seen on Twitter.
A change.org petition, titled “Petitioning TV presenter Bill Maher to apologise for racist joke,” has gathered more than 2,000 signatures since the show aired on April 4.
“Firstly, this is not about making Bill Maher a scapegoat and before you disregard this thinking 1D fans are angry because of Zayn Malik, think again,” wrote the creator of the petition, SJ Temi of the United Kingdom. “This is about how islamophobia, racism and discrimination of ANY kind is wrong, shouldn’t be ignored and must end… This is completely unacceptable. Racism should not become normalised especially on NATIONAL TELEVISION. Bill Maher and whoever wrote the script, need to be severely disciplined and at least apologise to show that this type of behaviour is NEVER ok.”
Watch the clip below.
[h/t Jezebel]