John Oliver, a giant squirrel and a defamation lawsuit by a coal industry titan
Source: WaPo
Last Week Tonight host John Oliver knew he was inviting a legal battle when he used his show Sunday to lambaste one of the countrys largest coal mining companies and mock its chief executive.
But it had to be done, he said.
In a 24-minute segment on the decline of the coal industry and President Trumps tenuous promises to bring it back, Oliver railed against the mining giant Murray Energy Corporation and chief executive Robert E. Murray, who has blamed the industrys troubles on an evil agenda by President Barack Obama.
Before he got going, Oliver offered up a proviso. Im going to need to be careful here, he said, because when we contacted Murray Energy for this piece, they sent us a letter instructing us to cease and desist from any effort to defame, harass, or otherwise injure Mr. Murray or Murray Energy, and telling us that failure to do so will result in immediate litigation.
Then he tore into the 77-year-old coal magnate.
Murray was a geriatric Dr. Evil, he said, who mistreated his employees and tried to weaken coal safety regulations through litigation. He suggested Murray was on the same side as black lung and criticized his response to a deadly 2007 mine accident in Utah found to have been caused by safety violations.
Read more: https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/morning-mix/wp/2017/06/22/john-oliver-a-giant-squirrel-and-a-defamation-lawsuit-by-a-coal-industry-titan/?utm_term=.a56f933aed22
niyad
(113,552 posts)Gothmog
(145,554 posts)Oliver should win this case
luvtheGWN
(1,336 posts)too much more dirt and wrong-doing by the company will come out in Discovery, and Murray surely won't want that!
justhanginon
(3,290 posts)a large legal team that they run these things by if there is any chance that it could bring a lawsuit.
sandensea
(21,664 posts)And they think they've found the way to do so.
Here's hoping Oliver counter sues, and drives that thieving redneck and his coal racket into the ground.
BigmanPigman
(51,627 posts)The way he pronounces squirrels and Nutty Betty the giant squirrel were hysterical.
mr_lebowski
(33,643 posts)Love, love, LOVE John Oliver.
Also ... Murray Energy is messin' with the WRONG dude, man ...
BigmanPigman
(51,627 posts)My Samsung tablet keeps changing my spelling and if I don'the proofread it a thousand times this is what comes out. I tried different solutions but nothing works. I left that last sentence "as is". to show you what I mean. The tablet originally wrote Nutty Betty until I corrected the tablet's correction. VERY FRUSTRATING!
xxqqqzme
(14,887 posts)animal cast in the wings. A zebra, now a squirrel. Can't wait to see what the next creature will be.
He is the reason I subscribe to HBO.
politicat
(9,808 posts)Wow. Oliver lit that trap up with neon and flood lights, he put up signage pointing out "It's a TRAAAAP!"
And Murray walked right into it.
Day-um, that is some fine legal trolling.
jpak
(41,759 posts)Big_K
(237 posts)And I trust giant squirrels.
longship
(40,416 posts)Admiral Ackbar should have alerted him.
question everything
(47,534 posts)and a short version from WaPo