Comedian Bill Maher walked into a big, steaming pile of controversy over the weekend when he flippantly uttered the phrase "house n***er" while speaking on his HBO show Real Time. 

Maher's stunning faux pas occurred during an interview with Sen. Ben Sasse (R-NE) while discussing the boundaries between adolescence and maturity, and how adults in California still dress up for Halloween. From the New York Times: 

When Mr. Sasse said this did not happen in his state, Mr. Maher said, 'I’ve got to get to Nebraska more.'

Mr. Sasse replied: 'You’re welcome. We’d love to have you work in the fields with us.'

Mr. Maher said: 'Work in the fields? Senator, I’m a house nigger. No, it’s a joke.'

That obviously did not go as planned. The hashtag #FireBillMaher has since been trending on Twitter, prompting the comedian to issue a mea culpa, saying "The word was offensive and I regret saying it and am very sorry."

HBO subsequently issued a statement condemning Maher's comments, promising to edit them from future airings of the show, though no plans to fire him have been announced. Fox News fired liberal commentator Bob Beckel recently for supposedly uttering the same racial slur off the air. Imagine if a conservative comic like Dennis Miller had said what Maher did. There would be more than a trending hashtag in response; it would be torches and pitchforks time.

“Bill Maher’s comment last night was completely inexcusable and tasteless. We are removing his deeply offensive comment from any subsequent airings of the show,” HBO said.

As the controversy heats up, several others have denounced his actions, with Sen. Al Franken (D-Minn.) cancelling his upcoming appearance on the show. 

“Senator Franken believes that what Bill Maher said was inappropriate and offensive, which is why he made the decision not to appear on the next episode of ‘Real Time,’” Franken's spokesperson said. “He was glad to see Bill, who the Senator considers to be a good friend, apologize and express sincere regret for his comment.”