Latest news with #JohnLeguizamo
Yahoo
15-07-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
Maher and actor John Leguizamo sparred after the actor said there's 'plenty of room' in the U.S. for undocumented immigrants.
Bill Maher got into a heated exchange over the term 's---hole countries' with John Leguizamo after the actor said that there's 'plenty of room' for undocumented immigrants in the U.S. Maher was had been ripping former President Joe Biden's border policy—which he characterized as 'come one, come all'—before Leguizamo pushed back during Maher's Club Random podcast. 'There's plenty of room in America, come on,' the Romeo+Juliet actor and liberal activist said. 'There's not a lack of room in America.'
Daily Mail
15-07-2025
- Entertainment
- Daily Mail
Bill Maher clashes with Hollywood actor John Leguizamo over immigration into US
Actor John Leguizamo told Bill Maher that America should take on more migrants because 'there's plenty of room here'. The liberal's assertion came during a fiery episode of Maher's Club Random podcast that laid bare the political fault lines between the two liberal voices. 'There's plenty of room in America, come on. There's no lack of room in America,' Leguizamo insisted, as Maher pushed back. 'It can't just be like, "come one, come all," Maher countered. 'It's never about room. It's about resources… Countries have to have a border.' The episode, which dropped on Monday saw the two clashing not just over immigration policy but race, identity, and even past personal encounters with Donald Trump himself. Maher, 69, a longtime liberal comedian known for skewering both the left and right, accused the Biden administration of mishandling the border crisis, prompting Leguizamo, 64, to launch into a passionate defense of immigrants and a scorching attack on what he sees as systemic racism in US history. 'We've been here since the beginning,' Leguizamo declared, referring to Latino communities in the United States. 'The first European language spoken in America was not English - it was Spanish. But we haven't moved up. We've stayed in the same place because this is the fourth mass deportation of Latinos since 1830.' He launched into a historical recounting of Latino persecution: 'After Mexico became America and they invaded and took from Mississippi to the Pacific, they started lynching people, stealing their land, stealing their political wealth. In the 1930s, with the Repatriation Act, two million Latinos - most of them American citizens - were deported.' Maher, who has been critical of both Trump and Biden's immigration policies looked at the modern day issue. 'Part of this is a backlash to how badly Biden handled the immigration situation… You can't just open the gates. 'Something like 200 million people around the world, when asked, "Would you come to America if you could?" - "Yes, I would." Why wouldn't they? Lots of countries, excuse me, are s***tholes, and they would love to be here.' Leguizamo was quick to push back: 'The places aren't s***holes.' 'Well, they are,' Maher replied. 'That's why they want to come.' 'It's usually because of America,' Leguizamo shot back. 'What America's done, especially in Latin America, is beat up every democracy that was burgeoning. They destroyed it to keep their oil or their resources or bananas.' The sharp exchange spiraled into more personal territory when Leguizamo recounted a past encounter with Trump, long before the real estate mogul entered politics. 'I met him a time I was giving an award at Trump Tower,' the actor recalled. 'He came up to me and goes, "Oh, you're so articulate."' Leguizamo said he interpreted that comment as a racist slight: 'White people always tell you that if you're a Latin person and you can speak, that you're so articulate -which I know is code for "I thought you were all dumb." Maher acknowledged the offense, calling the remark 'just obnoxious,' but rejected the notion that Trump himself was a racist: 'He's not a racist. He's a product of his time.' Leguizamo pushed back again: 'Some of us overcome our times.' 'That is true and fair to say,' Maher agreed. The exchange grew even more heated when the two addressed Trump's adviser, Stephen Miller, widely regarded as the architect of the Trump administration's hardline immigration policies. 'He's not on the level of racism that Stephen Miller is,' Leguizamo said. 'Nobody is at the level of Stephen Miller's racism. He grew up in Santa Monica with Latinos and I guess they bullied him - and he's got a chip on his shoulder.' Throughout the conversation, Maher tried to temper Leguizamo's moral urgency by citing how border towns and liberal cities were overwhelmed buckling under migrant inflows. 'Even the governor of New York was like, "We can't take all these people," Maher said. 'Mayor Adams was like - and he's right - it's like, you know, these people live here and now this is their burden.' Leguizamo, who hosts MSNBC's Leguizamo Does America, argued that immigrants were not a burden but the backbone of the country. 'The immigrants that are coming here are building the country,' he said. 'They're the essential workers. They're the first responders. They're doing all your construction, painting, plumbing, raising all your food, cooking all your food, serving all your food, taking care of your kids. We do all the work that nobody wants to do.' Maher responded, 'Yes, they are. Absolutely. But… there has to be some order to it.' Leguizamo seemed unmoved by the call for moderation. 'Let's fix the legal immigration,' he demanded. 'It's a broken system. People who've been here for 30 years can't be naturalized. That's insane.' In a rare moment of agreement, Maher conceded the legal system is failing many long-time immigrants. 'Fix the quotas,' he said. 'Fix the blockage.' The conversation went back and forth between barbed humor and some tense disagreements, with Maher even joking about the kinds of countries where 'you can take a chicken on a bus' being what he called 's***hole countries.' He clarified: 'It doesn't mean you're a s***hole person. You have the misfortune of being born there.' Leguizamo, while acknowledging the hardships, insisted that the answer was not shutting the door, but swinging it open. 'Immigrants are the life source of this country,' he said.
Fox News
14-07-2025
- Entertainment
- Fox News
Bill Maher clashes with liberal actor over Trump, immigration policy
Bill Maher and liberal actor John Leguizamo clashed over their perceptions of President Donald Trump and the country's immigration system on Maher's latest "Club Random" podcast episode. Leguizamo blasted top Trump official Stephen Miller as a racist and architect of Trump's mass deportation policy, but Maher retorted that the last administration bore blame. "Part of this is a backlash to how badly Biden handled the immigration situation. It can't just be like 'Come one, come all,'" Maher said. "There's plenty of room here," Leguizamo told a skeptical Maher. "There's plenty of room in America, come on. There's no lack of room in America." "It's never about room. It's about resources … Countries have to have a border," Maher said. "I mean, they've done surveys and something like 200 million people around the world when asked, 'Would you come to America if you could?' 'Yes, I would.' Why wouldn't they? Lots of countries, excuse me, are s--tholes, and they would love to be here." Trump was fiercely criticized by the left during his first term when he used that disparaging term for countries like Haiti and El Salvador. "The places aren't s--tholes," Leguizamo replied to Maher. "Well, they are," Maher said. "That's why they want to come." Leguizamo, an outspoken liberal activist, claimed that issues in Latin American countries were often because of actions taken by the United States. Leguizamo also recounted meeting Trump before he entered politics and claimed Trump had once called him "so articulate," which he took as a racist slight against Latinos to suggest they generally weren't. He added he found Trump "so meek," which surprised him. "I wouldn't call it meek," Maher said. "What I would call it is knowing how to make everybody – it's ironic because he's known as the greatest egomaniac, and he is quite an egomaniac – and you're interested in what they're saying. He's good at that." Maher met with Trump at the White House earlier this year and recounted that the president was "gracious and measured," although Maher said he wouldn't pull his punches in criticizing Trump going forward. Leguizamo countered that Trump was "obsequious," and Maher conceded that Trump's alleged remarks about the actor being articulate were "just obnoxious." Maher added that Trump, who turned 79 last month, was also not a racist but rather a "product of his time," to which Leguizamo shot back, "Some of us overcome our times." "That is true and fair to say," Maher said. Leguizamo hosts an MSNBC program, "Leguizamo Does America," where he travels to different Latino communities across the country in an effort to spotlight their culture.
Mint
05-07-2025
- Entertainment
- Mint
John Leguizamo says he 'learned a lot about respect' in his first marriage
Washington [US], July 5 (ANI): Actor-comedian John Leguizamo recently opened up about the lessons he learned from his past. In a recent interview with PEOPLE, the 64-year-old star spoke about how his first marriage helped him grow into a better man and husband. He was married to actress Yelba Zoe McCourt from 1994 to 1996, before marrying his current wife, Justine Maurer, in 2003. According to PEOPLE, in the new season of his MSNBC docuseries, the actor joked to chef Melissa Araujo of Alma in New Orleans while discussing the gentle touch of shaping dough for Honduran baleadas: "If I had your advice, maybe my first marriage would've survived." When asked by PEOPLE what he learned from his first marraige, Leguizamo said, "The starter marriage was definitely very important for my maturation." For Leguizamo, it was a "life-learning experience," because he doesn't think he would be the same husband or man if he hadn't gone through the experience of the first marriage. "I learned a lot about respect. I learned a lot about compromise. I learned that it doesn't happen by itself -- that marriage is really work, and you gotta work, and you gotta put work into it, and you gotta put yourself into it," he added. Leguizamo, who shares two children with Maurer -- daughter Allegra, 25, and son Lucas, 24 -- believes one of the keys to a lasting relationship is staying involved in each other's lives. "You really gotta stay interested in each other, and do things together," he said, according to PEOPLE. Meanwhile, on the work front, the actor's upcoming show Leguizamo Does America season 2 is set to premiere on July 6 at 9 p.m. ET on MSNBC. New episodes will air every week through August. (ANI)
Yahoo
05-07-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
John Leguizamo Asked Daughter 'What Could I Have Done Better?' as a Dad During Movie They Filmed Together (Exclusive)
John Leguizamo is sharing how he reflected on his relationship with his daughter while the two filmed a movie together The actor spoke with PEOPLE and shared that he's hoping to "make up" for the lack of fathering in his own life Leguizamo shares his daughter Allegra and son Lucas with wife Justine MaurerJohn Leguizamo had a moment of reflection with his daughter when they were filming a movie together. The actor, who is gearing up for the second season premiere of his MSNBC travel series Leguizamo Does America, spoke with PEOPLE ahead of the show's release and reflected on his experience filming a movie with his daughter Allegra, 26. The two appeared in Tin Soldier, which came out in May. "My best times with her were just walking around Greece together," the proud dad tells PEOPLE. "Walking around with her and talking about life and asking her big, deep questions like, 'What could I have done better?'" Never miss a story — sign up for to stay up-to-date on the best of what PEOPLE has to offer, from celebrity news to compelling human interest stories. "You get these moments with your child and you have to try to go a little deeper when you can," he continues. "Obviously, the superficial ones are great too, but sometimes it's good to just ask some deeper questions, and the questions that my father never asked of me, or maybe the good moments that he did go deeper into that resonate with me for the rest of my life. I try to do that with my kids when I can." The actor went on, candidly admitting that he hopes he's making up for what he didn't have in his life with his own father. "I didn't have great fathering, so I'm trying to make up for the lack of fathering that I got," Leguizamo says. "And I guess I'm probably overdoing it, because as a reaction, you kind of overdo things, but I prefer to overdo than to under." Leguizamo shares daughter Allegra and son Lucas, 24, with wife Justine Maurer. Back in March, the actor opened up about how he felt about his daughter following him into show business. At the time, Leguizamo shared that he's "so proud" of his daughter. "We did this movie with [Robert] De Niro and Jamie Foxx called Tin Soldier, and she had to hold up a gun to me. She's never held a gun in her life," he told PEOPLE. "She had it pointed at me, and it was a crazy moment. It was our first moment on-screen together, and here she is putting a gun to her dad's face. In February 2024, Leguizamo gave PEOPLE an update on how he and his wife spend their days now. Maurer lives in Manhattan, where the actor still performs regularly and she sits on boards focusing on city preservation. Together with their children, they still celebrate their blended worldview. 'I never went to a seder in my life until Justine and I had kids. It was so beautiful,' Leguizamo said. 'So we did seders and then Easter. We would do Christmas and Hanukkah. I think it gave them a strong sense of connection to where they come from," he continued. "You start to see that when you have diversity and a mixed marriage, your wealth is doubled. Our kids felt that — and now live that.' Leguizamo Does America premieres Sunday, July 6, on MSNBC. Read the original article on People
