As the Federal Aviation Administration lifted its nationwide grounding of thousands of flights, Bill Maher offered some theories about the root of the issue.
On Friday’s episode of Real Time, the comedian joked that the cause “could be Selma Blair” after communication issues stopped air traffic controllers from being able to safely do their jobs.
“Did you see they grounded all the planes in America? All the planes,” said Maher. “So, I hope yo’’re staying for the weekend if you’re from out of town. They say it’s nothing nefarious, I don’t believe them. It could be a hack from China, it could be a hack from Iran, it could be a hack from AI itself. It could be Selma Blair, we just don’t know.”
Maher’s joke comes after Blair was charged with assault last month when she allegedly tried to open a plane’s exit door mid-flight, punching one airline employee and biting another. The actress has since apologized amid ongoing legal fallout.
Watch on Deadline
Meanwhile, the FAA ordered a nationwide ground stop on Friday due to “extraordinary circumstances” and “reasons of safety” as Secretary of Transportation Sean Duffy cited “a communication issue impacting all Air Route Control Centers. FAA technicians are investigating the issue.”
As of 5:15pm PT, the FAA lifted the stop that grounded more than 3,500 flights, with Duffy explaining the root cause of the crisis was a radar “instability” issue that led to the shutting down of domestic airspace.
Later in Friday’s episode of Real Time, Maher responded to DHS Secretary Markwayne Mullin’s statement that “there was no indication as of yet that this was a nefarious attack against us.”
“I just wanna throw this out there; maybe it’s nothing, but we did lose our email yesterday. Everybody’s email went down,” noted Maher. “The freezers in Europe last week, somebody hacked into the freezers in the supermarkets … I’m just gonna say this without anything, I’m pulling it out of my ass, but I just think we’re being hacked. I do.”