Last Week Tonight with John Oliver wins victory in Bob Murray – coal lawsuit
If you recall, last summer the HBO talk series did a segment disputing many of Murray’s claims about his employees and his company’s safety — while also referring to him as a “geriatric Dr. Evil” and bringing out someone in a squirrel costume to insult him at the end of the show. Oliver noted during the segment that he had been threatened with a lawsuit if he decided to air said segment, but went ahead and did so anyway because why not?
In the days that followed a lawsuit was filed against Oliver’s show in West Virginia, a place that could have been favorable to the coal industry just because so much of it is set around there. Yet, this week the lawsuit was dismissed by Judge Jeffrey Cramer of West Virginia’s second judicial circuit. Per Deadline, here is what the judge had to say on the matter:
“I find the arguments set forth in the Defendants’ Motion to Dismiss for Failure to State a Claim and Reply well-founded, appropriate in this matter and will grant the same. The Court adopts, with little exception, Defendants’ argument in support of their Motion regarding all issues addressed in the same.”
In simpler terms, Oliver’s show was largely exercising its First Amendment rights and there isn’t enough here to merit the case moving forward. That doesn’t necessarily mean that this entire ordeal is over and done with, but Last Week Tonight may feel okay enough to now offer an update on the situation.
Related – Read more of our take on the Last Week Tonight with John Oliver premiere from this past weekend
We really cannot offer up too much of an opinion one way or another on the subject of Oliver’s comments about Murray — we’re not in the coal industry and haven’t researched it in the same intensive way that the show’s writers have. Yet, it did feel like this was a lawsuit they would win just because HBO’s attorneys probably looked at the entire segment before it was even put on the air.
We’ll have more on this story as it comes out. For now, be sure to like CarterMatt on Facebook in the event you want to get some more insight regarding the HBO series. (Photo: HBO.)