Bill Maher enters damage-control mode with next "Real Time" guests

In the first edition of "Real Time with Bill Maher" since the host used the n-word to refer to himself during an interview with Rep. Ben Sasse, R-Neb., during Friday's show, the host will speak to three outspoken African-American guests: academic and progressive author Michael Eric Dyson, rapper and film star Ice Cube and liberal activist Symone Sanders. The HBO press release announcing the guests — published at Deadline — confirms that CNN journalist David Gregory and former republican representative David Jolly will join the "Real Time" roundtable. As reported, a statement from the performer's representatives reads, "Ice Cube will still appear on Bill Maher this Friday as scheduled to talk about the release of ‘Death Certificate: 25th Anniversary’ edition, an album that was recorded in the wake of the Rodney King beating in 1991, which sadly, speaks to many of the same race issues that we as a society are still dealing with today.” Symone Sanders, a democratic strategist, CNN commentator and former advocate for Bernie Sanders' 2016 presidential campaign struck a similar note. This lineup, and the fact that Maher looks willing to talk about this issue, could wind up creating an episode that's a great step forward, a true apologia combined with a real confrontation of the icky, nasty places most white liberals would rather not believe exist within themselves.