Over the course of the last few years, John Oliver has proven himself as one of late night's most prominent and biting satirists on Last Week Tonight with John Oliver. Having said that, his status as a prominent political comedian has also drawn the ire of the people that he profiles on a weekly basis, which recently led to a lawsuit at the hands of Murray Energy after a particularly notable segment on his show. However, things seem to have worked out in Oliver's favor for the moment, as the defamation case filed by Murray Energy against the HBO series has officially been thrown out.
The whole thing started last summer when Last Week Tonight with John Oliver aired a notably sharp segment dissecting the business practices coal magnate Robert E. Murray. The show was quickly hit with a defamation lawsuit (something that John Oliver predicted would happen), and the case then went to court. However, when the case ultimately went to the West Virginia state court, the judge found that Oliver and HBO were within their First Amendment rights to criticize Murray in the way that they did.
The legal decision has not gone unnoticed by the folks at Murray Energy either. Following the initial THR report on the decision, the company responded with a comment stating that the case was decided based on "flawed arguments" with little basis in actual law. The company very clearly disagrees with the outcome of this particular verdict, and it has voiced its intention to appeal the decision and take it to a higher court as soon as possible.
If you are looking for more information about what exactly John Oliver said in his takedown of Murray Energy, then you can watch the segment in question, below.
It's not necessarily that surprising to see that Last Week Tonight with John Oliver has found itself in this particular situation. Oliver has made no secret of the fact that he emphasizes research and preparation in the deep dive segments (something that he honed during his tenure on The Daily Show), and this has allowed him to go on passionate rants about deeply polarizing and political topics. With the show now firing on all cylinders in its latest season, we will have to wait and see if any other lawsuits follow.
With that in mind, CinemaBlend will bring you more information related to this situation if and when new details become available to us. For now, you can catch new episodes of Last Week Tonight with John Oliver every Sunday night at 11 p.m. ET on HBO. The series recently returned for its fifth season, and you can take a look at our midseason premiere guide to see what other shows will follow suit in the coming weeks!
