Bill Maher hands out 'Cojones Awards' to those who fought against woke cancel culture, including Trader Joe's and Netflix

Bill Maher honored the brave, few people and companies that took a stand against cancel culture, including and Trader Joe's. On Friday night, the "Real Time with Bill Maher" host handed out awards to those who fought back against the woke cancel culture.

Maher humblebragged that he attended a swanky party at the home of a prominent Hollywood producer over a year ago. He claimed that there were several A-listers at the affair, and they were extremely concerned about the rise of liberals weaponizing cancel culture.

The Hollywood elites allegedly asked, "How do we take a stand against cancel culture?"

Maher replied, "And I suggested since we were mostly all in show business that we start at an award show to honor the brave people who have fought back."

The liberal talk show host said the idea with "met with great enthusiasm by everyone."

However, he added, "And then of course being Hollywood, nothing happened."

Instead, Maher decided to host his own award show paying tribute to those who fought back against cancel culture. He named the event "The Cojones Awards." Maher quipped that the actual awards are "solid brass balls."

Maher delivered the first Cojones Award to Martha Pollack – the president of his alma mater Cornell University. Pollack has defended freedom of speech against woke activists trying to shut down conservative speakers at the school.

"It is critical to our mission as a university to think deeply about freedom of expression and the challenges that result from assaults on it, which today come from both ends of the political spectrum," Pollack proclaimed. "Learning from difference, learning to engage with difference and learning to communicate across difference are key parts of a Cornell education. Free expression and academic freedom are the bedrock not just of the university, but of democracy."

Maher said, "She didn't cave in or hire a new dean of sensitivity, she just said, 'No. College is for introducing you to new ideas, not for kissing your ass and making you feel wonderful and always right.'"

The next award went to Trader Joe's for refusing to bend the knee to the outrage mob. Trader Joe's was accused of having "racist" labels on their products.

Social justice warriors slammed the national grocery chain for having certain names for ethnic food. Mexican food is Trader Jose's, Arabian Joe for Middle Eastern products, Trader Giotto's for Italian items, and Trader Joe San for Japanese cuisine.

Trader Joe's didn't buckle from pressure from the woke mob, even when a petition began to gain some steam.

"We want to be clear: we disagree that any of these labels are racist," a statement from Trader Joe's declared. "We do not make decisions based on petitions."

The next Cojones Award went to Netflix CEO Ted Sarandos for standing up when the outrage mob came for Dave Chappelle, including employees from his own company. Some people were enraged by Chappelle's stand-up comedy special, and they believed it was "transphobic" and "dangerous."

"We have a strong belief that content on screen doesn't directly translate to real-world harm," Sarandos said in an internal email to his employees.

Sarandos doubled down in an interview.

"I think it’s very important to the American culture generally to have free expression," Sarandos declared.

"We’re programming for a lot of diverse people who have different opinions and different tastes and different styles, and yet we’re not making everything for everybody," Sarandos added. "We want something for everybody, but everything’s not going to be for everybody.”

The final honoree was Ben Stiller, who faced criticism earlier this year for his role in the 2008 movie "Tropic Thunder."

Stiller said in February, "I make no apologies for 'Tropic Thunder.' Don’t know who told you that. It’s always been a controversial movie since when we opened. Proud of it and the work everyone did on it."

Maher noted that a lesson could be learned in not bowing down to the cancel culture mob.

"And the lesson is if you stand up to the mob for just a day or two, their shallow, impatient, immature smartphone-driven gerbil minds will forget about it and go on to the next nothingburger, and you, you still will have your cojones," Maher explained.

You can watch the full "Cojones Awards" segment here.

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