Bill Maher doubts Billie Eilish would part with her money after she slams greed of billionaires

LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA: Bill Maher gave a blunt response to Billie Eilish's speech for billionaires to give away their money during his ‘Real Time with Bill Maher’ show on Saturday, November 1.

The 'Ocean Eyes' singer, while accepting an award at the WSJ Magazine Innovator Awards, called on the ultra-wealthy in the room to "give your money away, shorties."

Bill Maher challenges Billie Eilish's 'give money away' advice

Bill Maher admitted the wealth is huge, saying, "A billionaire's a lot of money. and I can’t imagine anyone needing that much money or how you could ever spend it."

However, he quickly became skeptical and argued that the desire for wealth is too strong to stop. He said that once someone reaches nearly a billion dollars (like $995 million), "no one wants to stop."

Maher suggested that Eilish's opinion about giving away money might change if she were personally that close to being ultra-wealthy by stating, “And I’m not so sure she would either if she got there.”

Billie Eilish's speech at WSJ Magazine Innovator Awards

The controversy started at the WSJ Magazine Innovator Awards in New York City on October 29, where Billie Eilish was the recipient of the Music Innovator Award. 

Immediately after host Stephen Colbert told the audience that Eilish was donating a whopping $11.5 million from her Hit Me Hard and Soft Tour proceeds to causes dedicated to climate justice and food equity, the singer used her platform to address the room directly, which was filled with high-profile billionaires, including Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg.

Eilish set the stage for her demand by first acknowledging the world's present condition: "We're in a time right now where the world is really, really bad and really dark and people need empathy and help more than, kind of, ever, especially in our country.”

She continued, “I’d say if you have money, it would be great to use it for good things and maybe give it to some people that need it.” 

She then made her demand personal and pointed: “Love you all, but there’s a few people in here that have a lot more money than me. If you’re a billionaire, why are you a billionaire? No hate, but yeah, give your money away, shorties.”

Impact of Billie Eilish's comments while Mark Zuckerberg remains silent

Billie Eilish's remark about billionaires earned laughter and applause from most of the audience at the WSJ event. 

However, Zuckerberg, whose fortune surpasses $226 billion, did not clap, according to reports by People and The Wall Street Journal. His silence, as he was there to support his wife, Priscilla Chan, and her philanthropy, contrasted with Eilish's demand and quickly drew media attention and online discussion.