Comedian Bill Maher used his HBO show to criticize fraternity culture at Cornell University, addressing the ongoing controversy over allegations that seven men sexually assaulted a woman at the school’s Chi Phi fraternity house in October 2024.
Maher, a Cornell alumnus, made the comments during Friday’s episode of “Real Time.” He argued that fraternities amplify negative behavior among young men.
“Everything that’s inherently bad about men gets worse if you put them in a fraternity. The drinking gets worse, the cruelty, the treatment of women, the tribalism, the peer pressure, one-upmanship, conformity, segregation, nepotism, bullying, elitism, and just general a**holery — boat shoes, for example.”
Maher also pushed back on the idea that fraternities help shape young men into gentlemen, framing the Cornell allegations as a case study in the consequences of reckless decisions involving alcohol and drugs.
“A young woman made a bad decision, as 20-year-olds do, when she went to a frat house drunk and did Ketamine. And for that, she claims to have paid a price no woman should have to pay.”
“No one was there [or] knows what happened, but I do know what a gentleman is — a gentleman-gentleman is someone who in that situation doesn’t exploit the woman, he saves her.”
The case, which involves allegations tied to the Chi Phi fraternity house in Ithaca, has drawn wider political attention in recent days. Coverage over the weekend noted that Democratic officials have described the disputed allegations as established fact, even as newly disclosed text messages have complicated that narrative.
Maher cited a figure of 128 hazing-related deaths nationally since 2000 as part of his argument for reconsidering whether fraternities should exist at all. He extended similar criticism to sororities, describing them in blunt terms as producing conformist graduates.
The remarks have added a national media voice to a debate already playing out in Tompkins County over how closely Cornell and local authorities should monitor fraternity houses for drug use, underage drinking, hazing and other risks to student safety.
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