I think anyone who watched this past episode saw this coming...

John Oliver, HBO Sued for Defamation by Coal Executive

HBO’s “Last Week Tonight” was hit with a defamation lawsuit by Murray Energy Corporation CEO Robert Murray after host John Oliver spent much of Sunday’s show bashing the coal executive.

The complaint says the show’s segment was “false, injurious, and defamatory,” and an “attempt to advance their biases against the coal industry and their disdain for the coal-related policies of the Trump Administration,” according to Dan Abrams’ LawNewz.

The suit names producer Charles Wilson, HBO, and parent company Time Warner, Inc., according to Law Newz. The sites also reported that the suit claims Time Warner “is widely reported as a top ten donor of Hillary Clinton” and the former Democratic presidential candidate has “an agenda of putting coal miners and companies out of business.”

Murray’s lawyers preemptively sent a cease and desist letter Oliver’s way prior to the show. Of course, the threat of litigation merely made the “Daily Show” alum double-down on Murray’s treatment of his employees.

Part of Oliver’s segment featured a clip of an interview with Murray after a fatal mine collapse that the executive blamed on an earthquake. Oliver said Murray continued to blame the earthquake after an investigation said that was not the cause. However, the lawsuit claims the Federal Mine Safety and Health Administration’s report essentially coincided with Murray’s claim that an earthquake caused the collapse, according to LawNewz.

The lawsuit alleges that Oliver “intentionally, falsely, and outrageously” said that Murray’s claim was false despite producers being aware of the Federal Mine Safety and Health Administration’s report, according to LawNewz.

Oliver is well aware of Murray’s history of litigation and said, “I know that you are probably going to sue me, but you know what? I stand by everything I said,” during the segment.

HBO issued the following statement to LawNewz: “While we have not seen the complaint, we have confidence in the staff of Last Week Tonight and do not believe anything in the show this week violated Mr. Murray’s or Murray Energy’s rights.”

ACLU sides with John Oliver on coal CEO’s suit: ‘Anyone can legally say, “Eat (expletive), Bob!”’

You might say the ACLU isn’t happy about coal CEO Bob Murray’s lawsuit targeting HBO host John Oliver.

The West Virginia chapter of the organization filed a scathing amicus brief in support of Oliver on Tuesday, calling the lawsuit “nuts” and arguing that “anyone can legally say, ‘eat (expletive), Bob.’”

The ACLU took particular offense to the request for a court order barring rebroadcasts of the “Last Week Tonight” segment, which aired in June and skewered Murray’s coal company, Murray Energy.

“Bob Murray thinks John Oliver was mean to him, and he doesn’t want him to be mean again. While that is sad for Bob Murray, it is unconstitutional for a court to order such relief,” ACLU lawyers wrote in the brief.

Adding insult to injury, the ACLU countered Murray’s objection to being called “a geriatric Dr. Evil” by noting that “truth is an absolute defense to a claim of defamation,” and included the side-by-side photo comparison featured in Oliver’s show for good measure.


In footnotes, the ACLU called it a “striking physical resemblance.”

Back in June, Murray Energy sued HBO and John Oliver for financial damages and a court order barring rebroadcasts of what it called a ‘‘false and malicious” segment.

Oliver’s June ‘‘Last Week Tonight’’ segment criticized the Trump administration’s effort to revive the coal industry, saying the number of coal jobs has dropped for decades and other energy alternatives are driving the industry’s decline.

He ribbed Murray, who blames regulatory efforts by the Obama administration for damaging the industry, and noted that the company had fought against coal safety regulations.

In its lawsuit, Murray Energy claimed that Oliver tried to embarrass Murray by making fun of his age and appearance, and made false statements about a 2007 collapse of a Utah mine, when nine miners died. The company also said Oliver ignored information it sent the show that it says showed an earthquake caused the mine’s collapse, and that the show made no mention of ‘‘the efforts Mr. Murray personally made to save the trapped miners.’’

For his part, Oliver has not commented on the lawsuit, except to say he “desperately” wanted to talk about it, but was advised not to.