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Stan Lee’s company blasts Bill Maher for ‘disgusting’ remarks

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Stan Lee’s Pow Entertainment has slammed Bill Maher for his “frankly disgusting” remarks regarding Lee’s legacy.

Lee’s team posted an open letter on Monday kindly explaining to the TV host that “comic books, like all literature, are storytelling devices.

“When written well by great creators such as Stan Lee, [comics] make us feel, make us think and teach us lessons that hopefully make us better human beings,” said the letter.

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Following Lee’s death on Nov. 12, Maher published a blog post five days later lamenting the state of the country for being in “deep, deep mourning for a man who inspired millions to, I don’t know, watch a movie, I guess.”

Lee was best known for co-creating characters such as Spider-Man, the X-Men and more.

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In his post, Maher explained that although he had “nothing against comic books,” the entire medium was just “kid stuff,” suggesting the people grieving Lee’s death struggle to handle “grown-up things.”

“I don’t think it’s a huge stretch to suggest that Donald Trump could only get elected in a country that thinks comic books are important,” Maher concluded.

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Lee’s camp pointed out that Maher had a right to believe whatever he wanted to about comics. However, they took issue with his dismissal of Lee’s impact on comic book fans.

“Countless people can attest to how Stan inspired them to read, taught them that the world is not made up of absolutes, that heroes can have flaws and even villains can show humanity within their souls,” they said in the letter.

Lee’s camp urged Maher to think about the platform he has access to because “with great power there must also come -- great responsibility.”

This is not the first time Maher has gotten upset over adults partaking in what he perceived as “a kid thing.” Last year, the TV personality made headlines for using a racist slur during a live taping of his HBO show while discussing adults who dress up for Halloween. Maher later apologized for using the epithet.

Read Pow Entertainment’s full letter here.

tracy.brown@latimes.com

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Twitter: @tracycbrown

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