In February 2013, Donald Trump filed a $5 million breach-of-contract suit in Los Angeles Superior Court against comedian Bill Maher, and that case became known as Trump’s orangutan lawsuit against Bill Maher because it tried to enforce Maher’s on-air joke that he would pay $5 million to charity if Trump could prove he was not “the spawn of his mother having sex with an orangutan.”1CNN. Donald Trump Sues Bill Maher Trump quietly withdrew the suit a few months later, and it was never refiled.2Mother Jones. Trump Files: Donald, Son of Orangutan
The Joke on Jay Leno
On January 7, 2013, Maher appeared on NBC’s The Tonight Show with Jay Leno and riffed on a stunt Trump had pulled the previous October, when Trump offered $5 million to a charity of President Obama’s choice if Obama released his college and passport records.3ABC News. Donald Trump Offers Cash to Obama Maher turned the format around. He said he would give $5 million to a charity of Trump’s choosing if Trump produced a birth certificate proving he was not the offspring of an orangutan, adding that “the color of his hair and the color of an orange orangutan is the only two things in nature of the same color.” For recipients, Maher suggested “Hair Club for Men” or “The Institute for Incorrigible Douchebaggery.”1CNN. Donald Trump Sues Bill Maher
Trump’s Demand Letter
Trump treated the bit as a real offer. The next day, January 8, 2013, his attorney Scott S. Balber sent Maher’s counsel a letter enclosing Trump’s birth certificate and stating that it demonstrated “he is the son of Fred Trump, not an orangutan.”4Reuters. Trump May Have Trouble Collecting on $5 Million Orangutan Bet The letter demanded that Maher pay $5 million right away, to be split equally among five charities: Hurricane Sandy victims, the Police Athletic League, the American Cancer Society, the March of Dimes, and the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute.5Politico. Trump-Maher Birther Feud Maher did not respond and did not pay.
The Complaint
On February 4, 2013, Trump filed suit in Los Angeles Superior Court, alleging breach of contract.6ABC News. Donald Trump Sues Bill Maher for $5M The complaint argued that Maher had made an unconditional offer on national television, that Trump had accepted by producing proof of his parentage, and that Maher’s refusal to pay was a breach. Trump asked for $5 million plus interest and requested a jury trial.7Courthouse News Service. Trump, Not Descended From an Orangutan, Sues Maher for $5M Attached to the filing were both the demand letter and a copy of Trump’s birth certificate.
How the Lawsuit Ended
Trump voluntarily dismissed the case a few months after filing. His attorney Michael Cohen said at the time that the suit was “temporarily withdrawn to be amended and refiled at a later date.”8The Hollywood Reporter. Donald Trump Withdraws Bill Maher Lawsuit It never was.2Mother Jones. Trump Files: Donald, Son of Orangutan
Why the Case Had No Real Chance
The core problem was whether a joke told on a late-night comedy show could function as an enforceable contract offer. On the surface, the mechanical pieces looked present: an offer, an attempted acceptance, and $5 million in promised consideration. One legal analysis conceded that “on its face, the elements of a contract are met” but added that it was “hard to believe that the court is going to enforce a $5 million joke.”9FindLaw. Donald Trump Suing Bill Maher Over $5 Million Joke
American contract law has a long-standing answer to statements made in jest. The clearest illustration is Leonard v. Pepsico (1999), where a man tried to redeem 7 million Pepsi Points for a Harrier fighter jet shown in a humorous commercial. The court held that no objective, reasonable person could have read the ad as a genuine offer, calling it “zany humor” and “an exaggerated adolescent fantasy.”10Justia. Leonard v. Pepsico, Inc., 88 F. Supp. 2d 116
There is a counterweight in the doctrine, but it did not help Trump. In Lucy v. Zehmer (1954), the Virginia Supreme Court enforced a land-sale agreement even though the seller claimed he had been kidding, ruling that “the law imputes to a person an intention corresponding to the reasonable meaning of his words and acts.”11Justia. Lucy v. Zehmer, 196 Va. 493 That case involved a private, face-to-face negotiation where the buyer had no reason to think the seller was joking. Maher’s offer was delivered to a laughing studio audience on a comedy show, mocking a public figure’s vanity. In that setting, a court would have great difficulty finding that a reasonable listener understood Maher to be entering a serious contractual commitment.
Maher’s Response
Maher addressed the suit on his HBO show Real Time with Bill Maher on February 9, 2013. “This is known as ‘parody,'” he told the audience, “and it’s a form of something we in the comedy business call a joke.” He added that “jokes on comedy shows are not typically legally binding contracts” and told Trump to “just suck it up like everybody else.”12Salon. Maher Tells Trump to Suck It Up
His view has not softened. During a February 2026 overtime segment of Real Time, asked whether he had ever apologized to Trump for the orangutan comparison, Maher answered: “F*ck no!”13Mediaite. Bill Maher Asked if He Apologized to Trump for Depicting Him as Ape