John Oliver Addresses Coal Baron Bob Murray & Lawsuit Againt 'Last Week Tonight' | THR News - video Dailymotion

"Lawsuits. The reason that the sentence 'Greta Thunberg allegedly killed Jeffrey Epstein' has the word 'allegedly' in it," the comedian explained.

Transcript

00:00Bob, you've done it again, you clever little coal goblin!

00:04John Oliver is taking aim at coal tycoon Bob Murray once again, this time with new

00:09claims of sexual misconduct allegations. The Last Week Tonight host is finally

00:13addressing the lawsuit the coal baron filed against the HBO show and then

00:17subsequently dropped, which Oliver calls a crazy story. For reference, Murray filed a

00:21lawsuit against the late-night show over a 2017 episode in which he claimed Oliver

00:26joked that he looked like a geriatric Dr. Evil. Murray also claimed that the show

00:33arranged for a staff member to dress up in a squirrel costume and deliver the

00:36message, Eat s**t Bob. The host explains that Murray's lawsuit asked for damages because he claimed that

00:53nothing has ever stressed him out more than the show's vicious and awful attack.

00:57Which is an odd thing to say, given that, as I just mentioned, he oversaw a company whose

01:01mind collapse in Utah resulted in the deaths of nine people.

01:04In addition to damages, the lawsuit also asked for a gag order to stop the network from

01:08rebroadcasting the show or having the episode up online. The case was initially

01:13dismissed, though Murray appealed the decision to the West Virginia Supreme Court.

01:16And unfortunately for Oliver, one of the judges on the case was Alan Laughrey, who the host

01:21happened to make fun of in a 2015 episode of Last Week Tonight.

01:37However, as luck would have it, in a bizarre twist, Laughrey and three other Supreme Court

01:41justices ended up being impeached for inappropriate spending and the case was not heard.

01:45Murray eventually offered to drop the suit at the same time Murray Energy was filing for bankruptcy.

01:50Oliver later shared that he believed Murray's goal wasn't actually to win the case,

01:54but instead for it to be a slap suit, or a strategic lawsuit against public participation,

01:59which as Oliver puts it, is filing a suit in order to put the defendant through a difficult,

02:03painful experience. This point about the effect of slap suits segued into Oliver's reveal that the

02:08Last Week Tonight team uncovered multiple sexual misconduct allegations against Murray

02:12while researching for the latest episode.

02:14It is yet another Bob Murray attempts to bully people into silence, and he's been doing this

02:19for decades. But you know what? I will stand behind our first piece, and I'll stand behind this one.

02:24The cold tycoon denied the claims, and Oliver admitted that by bringing to light the allegations

02:29in the episode, which most media outlets have steered clear from, the show risked being sued again.

02:34Oliver then hilariously segued into a musical number that began with him recapping the case through song.

02:39So even though he'll threaten legal Armageddon, we have just one tiny thing to say,

02:48Bob Murray can go f**k himself today!

02:52And concluded with an epic performance that took over Times Square with an enthusiastic chant

02:56just for Bob Murray himself.

02:58Eat! Shit!

03:00Bob!

03:02All right, for more on this story, head to THR.com. And until next time,

03:12for The Hollywood Reporter News, I'm Neha Joy.