A federal judge dismissed far-right provocateur Laura Loomer’s defamation lawsuit against HBO and Bill Maher over his joke that she was “f–king” President Trump.
US District Judge James Moody wrote in his Wednesday ruling that Maher was joking when he said Loomer was sleeping with Trump during a September 2024 episode of his HBO show “Real Time with Bill Maher.”
The episode came at “a time when the environment was rife with jokes and speculation about Loomer’s relationship with President Trump,” and “no reasonable person” would take the comments as fact, the judge wrote – adding that there was even laughter from the audience.
In the September episode, Maher said: “She’s 31, looks like his type. We did an editorial here a few years ago … it was basically, who’s Trump f–king? Because I said, you know, it’s not nobody. He’s been a dog for too long, and it’s not Melania.”
“I think we may have our answer this week. I think it might be Laura Loomer,” Maher said.
Moody also ruled that Loomer failed to prove she “suffered damages” to her reputation or finances, especially after she testified that her income in 2024 was higher than in previous years.
Trump also “continues to solicit her opinions” and invite her to the White House, the judge wrote.
Loomer lashed out at the ruling in a Wednesday post on X, writing: “It is beyond the pale for any judge to say that a woman can be accused of having sex with a man and have it be brushed off as ‘a joke’ just because she proclaimed a platonic love for their politics and leadership style.”
She blasted the judgment as “totally dishonest and misogynistic,” adding that it “should be reversed on appeal either at the Eleventh Circuit and at the Supreme Court if necessary.”
The Post has sought comment from Loomer’s lawyer, a Maher rep and HBO.
The dismissal came just a day after FBI Director Kash Patel’s defamation lawsuit against MS NOW contributor Frank Figliuzzi was tossed out.
The judge in that case deemed Figliuzzi’s claim that Patel spent time in “nightclubs far more than he has been” at the FBI’s headquarters was “rhetorical hyperbole.”
Earlier this week, Patel slapped The Atlantic and one of its writers with a $250 million defamation suit over a report that he has a drinking problem and regularly goes missing.
Maher’s crude joke aired shortly after Loomer made headlines for joining Trump’s posse at a presidential debate, attending a 9/11 memorial alongside the president and traveling on his private plane.
She also shared videos and photos showing her with the president on social media, with captions like “I love him so much,” “I really love him with all of my heart” and one that was simply a “heart-eyes” emoji.
In his testimony, Maher argued that he made the joke based on Loomer and Trump’s “sudden closeness in the news that week,” according to legal documents.
“I could have shown a video of them together and all the places they were together and all the things that were going on, the ‘I love you’ the ‘I love you,’ the blowing of the kisses, you’re very special, all this stuff, and then just said, ‘Hey, get a room,’” Maher said during the case.
“It’s just – this is just comedy. This is – these are jokes.”
Loomer was previously banned from social media platforms including Facebook and rideshare apps Lyft and Uber over her inflammatory remarks – including promoting conspiracy theories about 9/11 and once calling herself a “proud Islamophobe.”
In 2024, Loomer suggested the 9/11 attacks were an “inside job” after visiting a downtown New York City firehouse for a memorial event with Trump and Vice President JD Vance while they were running for office.
Trump appeared to distance himself from Loomer, telling reporters that she was just a “supporter.”
“I don’t control Laura,” he said. “I can’t tell Laura what to do.”
In a post on Truth Social, he added that Loomer did not have an official role with his presidential campaign and is a “private citizen.”
