New Rule: The War on Office Romance | Real Time with Bill Maher (HBO)

and finally new rule now that Americans are finally returning to the office after the pandemic let's let them not necessarily right on the copy machine but you know in general bring this up because last week the Boston Celtics became the latest Corporation to show an executive the door for what seems to be acknowledged as a consensual relationship when they suspended their head coach IMEI udoka now for sure not all the facts about this case are known and if it turns out he was violent or physically coercive then his case has nothing to do with what I'm about to say and he should expect the appropriate and severe punishment but in general it's long overdue that America had an adult review of our war on office Romance you know there's only a few places where Americans meet each other in person anymore work bars church and Adam Levine's house [Applause] now in the udoka case the widely reported description of it has been improper intimate and consensual okay intimate and consensual I shouldn't even be reading about it what people do that is intimate and consensual is not my business not yours and that not that little leprechaun [Applause] improper on the other hand probably refers to a power imbalance between the two parties and yes in a workplace setting a power imbalance can be abused it is a real thing to watch out for if it involves coercion or promoting someone who doesn't deserve it because they're blowing you [Applause] but to deny two humans who are anxious for each other the chance to find love in the same office is a bit anachronistic as most businesses now have serious protocols in place where employees can report and get relief from being harassed this is no longer the Mad Men Days where there was no HR no yearly mandatory sexual harassment seminars and the metoo movement hadn't happened times have changed and yet nearly a quarter of employers require all employee relationships of any kind to be disclosed really God forbid grown-ups start making decisions about their own bodies without getting corporate involved and when it comes to managers and subordinates the majority of companies don't allow any relationship at all of and where it might happen is like the last mystery it's serendipity also when you're someone at the office you know they can hold down a job [Applause] [Music] under current guidelines Michelle Robinson could never have dated Barack Obama who was a summer associate at her Law Firm when they met she was literally The Intern [Applause] wasn't there a power imbalance when Joe Scarborough started dating Mika Brzezinski I'd have to say yes since the name of the show was Morning Joe not Morning Joe and Mika although now that they're married I wouldn't be surprised if that's next laughs in 2019 the CEO of McDonald's had to step down therefore it was discovered that he was having a consensual relationship with an employee I know gross who would date someone who works at McDonald's [Applause] but I remember reading about the Scandal and wondering where the Scandal was there was no harassment no off-color text no dick rubbing against underlings I mean we all know that no doesn't mean yes but now yes does it mean yes what happened to my body my choice same thing happened to the CEO of Priceline forced out because he had a relationship with an employee but come on it's hard not to have an affair or two when you're getting such a bargain on hotel rooms [Applause] but this is how sex works now the rule is if I want to have sex with another willing adult but we both work for Hyundai we need permission from Honda somebody else and we just accept that like taking our shoes off at the airport earlier this year Jeff Zucker was forced to resign as president of CNN after he admitted he kills hookers in a van oh wait no that's not what happened I'm sorry no he had concept he had consensual sex with a 49 year old CNN executive who didn't complain then and doesn't now she said they were in a relationship sure like a 49 year old executive knows better than we do about whether or not she's a victim who are we protecting here exactly who at CNN would have been traumatized by this unauthorized boning the war correspondence this couple has been in the news a lot lately why aren't we freaking out about a director dating one of her cast members our imbalance are you kidding on a movie set the director is God but sometimes people fall in love with God it's a very attractive position who are we to tell other people they can't have love because when they met they weren't exactly co-equal people are not always attracted to their co-equal we're not robots what we are apparently is lonely there is a loneliness epidemic out there it is widely reported a morning consult poll found that almost four out of five young adults consider themselves lonely and have trouble forming relationships outside of their home and that certainly seems the case in the incest porn I watch foreign [Applause] if loneliness is destroying our health causing depression anxiety low self-esteem and shortened life expectancy it's just not helpful to be criminalizing the pool of eligible mates that is the workplace does anyone really think that swiping right on some Rando because he has nice hair and he's posing in front of a Dodge Challenger is a better way to meet someone than at the office hahaha and not for nothing when udoka was fired they replaced him with a guy who was once arrested on charges of domestic battery but it's okay because they didn't work together

Channel: Real Time with Bill Maher

Views: 1,552,161

Keywords: Masih Alinejad, journalist, activist, author, book, The Wind in My Hair, My Fight for Freedom in Modern Iran, Van Jones, CNN Political Commentator, CEO of REFORM Alliance, host, podcast, Uncommon Ground with Van Jones, Caitlin Flanagan, Staff Writer, The Atlantic, Girl Land

Id: O880LqI_jxs

Length: 7min 45sec (465 seconds)

Published: Sat Oct 01 2022