Bill Maher cracked two jokes about Ariana Grande's weight during his Friday monologue on Real Time with Bill Maher, and the studio audience split right down the middle over them.

The first joke landed well. Maher compared a stick-like figure visible in newly released UFO files to an Ariana Grande video, drawing laughter and applause from the crowd (Deadline). The second one did not. "Maybe that joke will make her eat something," Maher said, prompting audible groans and "awwws" from the audience — a reaction TheWrap also reported separately (TheWrap).

HBO posted the full monologue, titled "Check Your Side," on its official YouTube channel (YouTube), letting viewers judge the room's reaction for themselves.

The timing intersected with a quieter moment in Grande's own career. The singer and actor recently dropped plans to appear in a West End revival of the Stephen Sondheim musical Sunday in the Park with George alongside Jonathan Bailey (Deadline). Grande did not give a specific reason for stepping back. She said boundaries need to be set and that human beings can need a break sometimes, according to the same report.

That is as far as the explanation went. No health detail, no schedule conflict cited, no further elaboration — just a stated need to pause.

For Maher, the monologue is familiar territory. His Friday night opening segments routinely weave current events and celebrity news into a rapid-fire routine, and the live studio audience serves as an immediate gauge of what lands and what does not. The split reaction on Friday — applause for one joke, groans for the next — captured that dynamic in real time.

Grande has not publicly responded to either joke. The monologue is now circulating online, where reactions tend to run wider and louder than a single studio crowd can capture.