Woody Allen Praises Trump in Shocking Bill Maher Interview

Woody Allen stunned listeners over the weekend when he unexpectedly praised President Donald Trump’s acting chops during an appearance on Bill Maher’s Club Random podcast — a rare move for the embattled filmmaker, who also doubled down on denying decades-old abuse allegations.

“I’m one of the few people who can say I directed Trump,” said Allen, 89, recalling the now-president’s cameo in his 1998 film Celebrity. “And he was a pleasure to work with. Very polite, very professional… and a very good actor.”

Maher immediately jumped in with a laugh: “How dare you.”

Allen continued anyway. “He hit his marks, did everything right, and he had a real flair for show business,” he said. “If he’d let me, I’d direct him again — even now, as president.”

Allen’s comments come as President Trump enters his second year back in the White House after defeating Vice President Kamala Harris in 2024. Democrats, still grappling with Trump’s aggressive rollback of voting rights protections and climate policies, reacted swiftly online, criticizing Allen for what they called “reckless nostalgia.”

“I’m not a Trumper,” Allen insisted. “I voted for Kamala Harris. I disagree with him on maybe 95… okay, 99 percent of everything. But as an actor, he was charismatic and convincing.”

Allen admitted he was shocked when Trump dove into politics: “This was a guy I used to see courtside at Knicks games, who loved golf and judging beauty contests. Politics seemed like nothing but headaches and agony for him.”

Maher used the conversation to cast Allen as a “victim” of what he called the “excesses of the #MeToo movement,” a comment that ignited backlash almost immediately.

“Your first reckoning was in ’93,” Maher reminded Allen, referencing allegations that the director molested his then-seven-year-old adopted daughter, Dylan Farrow, at Mia Farrow’s Connecticut home.

Allen, who has denied the accusations for decades, pushed back. “It was investigated twice,” he said. “Both times, nothing was found. I never suffered as much as people think.”

But critics argue Allen has faced consequences. In the years since the #MeToo movement gained traction, he’s struggled to secure financing for films and has faced boycotts from top Hollywood stars.

“I was lucky,” Allen admitted. “My so-called cancellation came after I’d already had my career. If I was 30 or 40, it would’ve been devastating.”

The podcast episode went viral within hours. While Trump supporters celebrated the praise as validation, liberal critics accused Allen and Maher of “normalizing” the president amid an administration Democrats see as a threat to democratic institutions.

“Woody Allen praising Trump’s charisma while Maher calls him a victim — you can’t make this stuff up,” one X (formerly Twitter) user wrote. “This is why Hollywood has lost touch.”

Others defended Allen’s right to separate politics from personal experience. “He’s talking about directing an actor, not endorsing a president,” a supporter posted.

The interview underscores the growing cultural divide under Trump’s second term, where even offhand comments from celebrities can spark political firestorms. Allen’s remarks arrive at a time when Democrats are mobilizing ahead of the 2026 midterms, framing Trump’s administration as a danger to reproductive rights, environmental protections, and U.S. alliances abroad.

Whether Allen intended it or not, his words have injected fresh fuel into an already raging political and cultural debate.

As Maher joked during the podcast, “If you thought you were canceled before…”