Bill Maher taught important lesson by Ice Cube after racial slur: 'It's like a knife'

The US host apologised for using the slur during an episode last week

Bill Maher has been taught a lesson by Ice Cube after using a racial slur on air last week.

The US host made a public apology after referring to Republican Senator Ben Sasse as “house [n-word[” during last week's episode of Real Time.

“I did a bad thing,” Maher said on Friday (9 June). “It doesn’t matter that it wasn’t said in malice, if it brought back pain to people. That’s why I apologise freely and I reiterate it tonight.”

Ice Cube was one of the show's guests and had a few words for Maher which you can watch in full below.

After accepting his apology, the rapper and actor detailed why Maher's words were unacceptable stating that, in the past, white people have used the word against black people “like a knife.”

“I think it’s a lot of guys out there who cross the line because they’re a little too familiar, or they think they’re a little too familiar,” he said. “Every now and then, they think they can cross the line, and they can’t.”

“That’s our word now,” he said. “And you can’t have it back.”