The 'Last Week Tonight' host said financial factors are a primary motivation but made a case that it's too soon to safely hold the event, which was postponed from last summer due the pandemic.
00:00It's not like Japan needs the Olympics to boost tourism. It's Japan. It's already got Mount Fuji, bamboo forests, and the world's wettest comedian.
00:09John Oliver is questioning the decision to go forward with the Summer Olympic Games.
00:14On Sunday's edition of his HBO show Last Week Tonight, the host noted that the pandemic is still very much not over,
00:20saying the Games seem to be going ahead, but not everyone in Japan is thrilled about that.
00:24Japan has a daily COVID-19 death rate higher than when the Games were cancelled last summer,
00:29as well as a slow vaccine rollout, with only 6% of Japan's population only fully vaccinated at this point.
00:36Well, I don't know what the target percentage should be to safely host the Olympics.
00:39I'm pretty sure that right now it should be higher than the number of entries in the Fast and Furious franchise.
00:45Oliver said organizers seem to be basing their decision on financial factors,
00:48with Japan having already spent over $15.4 billion on the Games.
00:53But even still, according to a CBS News report, Tokyo has no authority to cancel the Games,
00:59only the International Olympic Committee has the actual power to make that decision.
01:03It'd be like if your child got the flu and you tried to reschedule their birthday party,
01:07only to get overruled by the clown you hired.
01:10Oliver also noted that the Olympics were also introducing safety precautions for the Games,
01:14such as barring spectators from abroad to having attendees support athletes by clapping instead of chanting.
01:20Half the fun of watching the men's trampoline final is the raucous bonding with your fellow tramp heads.
01:26He later concluded hosting the Olympics is never a good idea for a city,
01:30and it's not like Japan needs the Olympics to boost tourism.
01:33And added,
01:33While I truly hope for everyone's benefit that this works out,
01:36you can't help feeling that the main motivator in this even taking place is money.
01:40So will it be worth it?
01:42For more on everything from this week's Last Week Tonight, head to THR.com.
01:46For The Hollywood Reporter News, I'm Neha Joy.
01:50For The Hollywood Reporter News, I'm Neha Joy.
01:51For The Hollywood Reporter News, I'm Neha Joy.
01:52For The Hollywood Reporter News, I'm Neha Joy.
01:53For The Hollywood Reporter News, I'm Neha Joy.
01:54For The Hollywood Reporter News, I'm Neha Joy.
01:55For The Hollywood Reporter News, I'm Neha Joy.
01:56For The Hollywood Reporter News, I'm Neha Joy.
01:57For The Hollywood Reporter News, I'm Neha Joy.
01:58For The Hollywood Reporter News, I'm Neha Joy.
01:59For The Hollywood Reporter News, I'm Neha Joy.
02:00For The Hollywood Reporter News, I'm Neha Joy.
02:01For The Hollywood Reporter News, I'm Neha Joy.
02:02For The Hollywood Reporter News, I'm Neha Joy.
02:03For The Hollywood Reporter News, I'm Neha Joy.
02:04For The Hollywood Reporter News, I'm Neha Joy.
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