Bill Maher Berkeley Commencement Speech Controversy: ‘Real Time’ Host Feuds With Petitioners Following Ben Affleck Islam Debate [VIDEO]

HBO's Real Time host Bill Maher was, and is still, scheduled to present the commencement speech at Berkeley this coming December. But after some comments Maher made during his recent debate with Gone Girl star Ben Affleck back on Oct. 3 about the Islam religion, some folks decided to start a petition of Change.org that aims to stop him from speaking at the UC Berkeley graduation. Luckily, the college stuck by his side. And on this past Friday's show, the comedian fired back at his naysayers.

The Hollywood Reporter notes that Maher ended his Friday night show displaying his original excitement at being asked to speak at the University. "Though I never attended Berkeley, I was very aware of their place in the debate –– on the far left."

He then added, "In a country where the Democratic Party has sold out to the center and the right, this is what I needed. This is why I wanted to accept," noting that the reason Berkeley invited him to speak was because it was the 50th anniversary of the Berkeley Free Speech Movement." However, because of the aforementioned petition, Maher joked (kind of), "I guess they don't teach irony in college anymore..."

Check out the Real Time host's slam on the Berkeley petitioners below:

The comedian noted that the reason for the petition was mainly due to the fact that he had an "A-list movie star" on his show debating the topic he's talked about "1,001" times on the HBO show. "So now our very deep media started to care about it," he said.

As mentioned, the university has sided with Maher. And he still plans to attend, unless it turns into a media circus that takes the focus off of the graduates. "It's the only reason I would ever pull out," he said. "This is a commencement speech. The issue is you!"

For the original debate between Maher, Affleck and author Sam Harris – the one that started this whole issue – watch below: