The lawsuit was a foregone conclusion.
John Oliver said so much as he was wrapping Sunday’s “Last Week Tonight” episode in which he ripped into the coal industry, especially coal magnate Robert Murray.
“One more thing here,” said Oliver, addressing Murray directly. “Bob Murray, I didn’t really plan for so much of this piece to be about you, but you kind of forced my hand on that one, and I know that you’re probably going to sue me. But you know what? I stand by everything I’ve said.”
In the lawsuit filed Tuesday in West Virginia, Murray claims the show “executed a meticulously planned attempt to assassinate the character of and reputation of Mr. Robert E. Murray and his companies.” Oliver, HBO and Time Warner were among the defendants named in Murray’s complaint, as The Daily Beast reported.
Oliver didn’t need a crystal ball for his prediction. As he pointed out early on Sunday’s telecast, the owner of Murray Energy Corporation, the country’s largest privately owned coal company, has had a history of litigation against media companies.
Oliver also said his representatives reached out to Murray prior to Sunday’s airing only to receive a letter that warned the show to “cease and desist from any effort to defame, harrass or otherwise injure Mr. Murray or Murray Energy.”
So the lawsuit was slightly less a surprise than a Georgia Democrat spending millions of Californians’ hard-earned dollars and still falling short to a Republican in a Senate race. (Yeah, you saw that one coming.)
Sunday’s “Last Week Tonight” episode focused on President Donald Trump’s promise to revive the coal industry. Oliver called out Murray, a Trump supporter and friend, for his claims that Barack Obama destroyed the coal industry, and for Murray Energy’s safety record and clashes with employees.
Oliver also discussed the collapse of one Murray’s mines in Utah, which killed nine people. Murray has held steadfast that an earthquake was responsible for the accident, but Oliver pointed to a government report that placed the blame on unauthorized mining practices.
Murray’s complaint said Oliver and his staff ignored studies that supported the earthquake argument.
Oliver did defend Murray on one front. The comedian said union members had long circulated a story of how a squirrel visited a young Murray at his back porch and encouraged him to go into the coal business.
Oliver called the talking squirrel tale “ridiculous.”
And then he brought out an actor in a 6-foot squirrel outfit to take a parting shot at Murray.