Bill Maher Twitter-Whips Tim Tebow, But CBS Says Tebow's the 'Notorious' One

December 29th, 2011 11:14 PM

Before he tweeted “Merry Mythmas everybody,” HBO host Bill Maher rubbed Denver Broncos quarterback Tim Tebow’s face in the dirt on Twitter, but somehow Tebow’s the “notorious” one. Maher posted, “Wow, Jesus just [screwed] #TimTebow bad! And on Xmas Eve! Somewhere in hell Satan is tebowing, saying to Hitler ‘Hey, Buffalo’s killing them.’” But on CBSNews.com, reporter Ken Lombardi described Maher as simply a “comedian," but Tebow as a “notorious evangelical Christian.”

The word “notorious” has synonyms like “infamous,” “shameless,” and “disreputable.” But CBS didn’t care, insisting  “And Maher’s in hot water again for a now-controversial tweet on Christmas Eve referencing famed quarterback and notorious evangelical Christian Tim Tebow.”

Eric Bolling of Fox News replied in kind on Twitter: “Bill Maher is disgusting vile trash. I can’t even repeat what he just tweeted about Tebow..on Christmas Eve. #straighttohellBill”

Rick Chandler of NBC Sports blogged that this won’t cause Maher to get cancelled: “Is that likely to happen this time? Maher more likely will get a raise. This whole controversy is manna from heaven for Maher, who has built his HBO show, Real Time with Bill Maher, on just such controversies....Maher is likely reveling in the attention, and if anything, the controversy will likely get him more viewers.”
 
The Los Angeles Times noted “the ‘Real Time’ host wasn't just taking on an exceedingly popular quarterback; he was also mocking the best-selling religious author  of 2011. According to Yahoo! Sports, Tebow's 2011 memoir "Through My Eyes" has 475,000 copies in print, with many more expected to be sold after the season.”