Van Jones Issues Public Apology After Controversial Comment on Bill Maher Show

After being criticized for an inappropriate Gaza conflict joke on “Real Time with Bill Maher,” CNN political commentator Van Jones apologized.

Jones said Iran and Qatar were launching a “massive” Instagram and TikTok campaign of deception. He said, “If you open your phone, all you see is dead Gaza baby, dead Gaza baby, Diddy.” Young kids are regularly exposed to tragic conflict content. The studio crowd laughed, but many online accused him of mocking Palestinian suffering.

Jones clarified his aim and expressed apologies on social media after the outcry. After one commenter called his statement “disgraceful,” he realized his words were badly selected. “I botched this one. I’m sorry, Jones wrote. He said he was trying to show how foreign corporations use social media to divide and confuse, but his delivery was “flat-out insensitive.”

He stressed that his statements do not negate the Gazan humanitarian crisis. Gazan babies die daily. Nobody should deny or minimize that truth, Jones said. “To the people living in fear and burying loved ones daily, I apologize.”

Jones expressed his regret in a formal follow-up article, saying “the suffering of the people of Gaza — especially the children — is not a punch line.” He said, “What’s happening to Gazan children is heartbreaking. I cannot comprehend the agony of parents who cannot protect their children from such catastrophe as a father.”

Jones said he prays and works for an immediate end to the war. In Egypt on Monday, the US, Israel, and Hamas will debate President Donald Trump’s proposed ceasefire. Trump tweeted that “massive bloodshed will follow” if all parties don’t act immediately to stop the violence.

Sources
CNN, Real Time with Bill Maher, Van Jones social media statements, Truth Social post by Donald Trump